The Deep End Productions

Isaiah Sheffer's New Play About Isaac Bashevis Singer!

DREAMERS & DEMONS: The Three Worlds of Isaac Bashevis Singer

A new play by Isaiah Sheffer (Celebrated Host of NPR's "Selected Shorts")

With Isaiah Sheffer, Kathryn Markey, and Mary Brienza

April 22, 2010 at 8:00 p.m. at The Emelin Theatre!

 
 

Sneak Preview! Join Isaiah Sheffer, Mary Brienza, and Kathryn Markey as they perform excerpts of Sheffer's new play, based on published stories, sketches, interviews and his personal conversations with Nobel Prize-winning author Isaac Bashevis Singer. The play evokes Singer's  three worlds: the Eastern European shtetl; the refugee Jews of Coney Island, The Bronx, and Miami Beach; and the demons, dybbuks and spirits that filled the writer’s imagination.

A discussion and reception with the artists follows the performance.

Isaiah Sheffer is one of the most beloved guest artists that we've presented in The Insights & Revelations Performance Series. When brought us Symphony Space's acclaimed Thalia Follies, we sold out very quickly and received rave reviews from the audience that night.  We look forward to seeing another side of Isaiah's artistic work with his fascinating theatrical peek at the life and work of Nobel prize-winning author, Isaac Bashevis Singer.

PERFORMANCE AND TICKET INFORMATION:

Thursday, April 22 at 8:00 p.m.

Dreamers & Demons: The Three Worlds of Isaac Bashevis Singer | $25

For ticket purchases Click Hereor call (914) 698-0098.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS:

ISAIAH SHEFFER is co-founder and artistic director of Symphony Space and director and host of Selected Shorts live and on radio. His radio, television, theatre, and film credits are extensive and include work as a commentator on the arts for WNYC's weekly radio column Around New York; producer/writer for The Road to the White House, a 20-minute public affairs series for NBC-TV (Emmy Nomination); and writer/director, The Last Chapter, award-winning historical documentary film on 1,000 years of Polish-Jewish history. Mr. Sheffer wrote the book and lyrics for the musicals Yiddle with a Fiddle and The Rise of David Levinsky. His latest play is Dreamers and Demons: The Three Worlds of Isaac Bashevis Singer. He is currently creating the libretto for a modern-baroque opera-ballet about the making of the American Constitution, A More Perfect Union.

MARY BRIENZA – Leave It To Me (Off Broadway), Dance Dialogue Reflections with the A&G  Dance  Company  (Dance Theatre Workshop), the  self-penned  solo  comedy A Women Possessed, the sketch comedy trio Girl Talk as well as productions of 42^nd Street, My One & Only, and Mame. At Symphony Space she has appeared in Wall-To-Wall Cole Porter, Wall-To-Wall Broadway, Bloomsday On Broadway, the Thalia Reading Series’ Helpers, and is a recurring cast member and contributing writer for the Thalia Follies. For the past 15 years she has appeared extensively as her songwriting alter ego Judeen Chalk of the country music sister act The Chalks and has been seen and heard on Comedy Central’s Premium Blend, radio markets across the U.S. as well as Belgium, Sweden and Guam, and stages throughout the country. Currently in development for the theatre: The Chalks: An American Family In 3 Chord, which was recently presented in a workshop performance at Bay Street Theatre courtesy of a grant from the Lucille Lortel Foundation.

 

KATHRYN MARKEY has appeared on Broadway in Three From Brooklyn (performer and contributing writer), and is a featured artist at Symphony Space in NYC; recently appearing in The Thalia Follies, Bloomsday, the epic Wall to Wall Broadway Musicals and Selected Shorts: Women in the News. Other theatrical credits include Parallel Lives and Dancing at Lughnasa (Northern Stage) the world premiere of Jumping Blind (Gayfest 2008), Ragtime (WPPAC), the Brighton Beach trilogy, Into the Woods, Pirates of Penzance (St. Michael’s Playhouse) Thoroughly Modern Millie (NL Barn), Beau Jest (Pennsylvania Stage), Separation (English Theatre of Stockholm) and 3 seasons of Merkin Hall’s “Broadway Playhouse” series. On screen: Law and Order, All My Children, Filmic Achievement, DutchWest TV, and dozens of feature film voice overs. Kathryn is one-third of the satirical country band “The Chalks” which has been featured on Comedy Central, the Jerry Lewis MDA telethon, The Toyota Comedy Festival, and in honky tonks from Palm Springs to Passaic.

ISAAC BASHEVIS SINGER was one of the great storytellers of the twentieth century. Though his work often took the form of parables or tales based on a nineteenth century tradition, he was deeply concerned with the events of his time and the future of his people and their culture. Isaac Bashevis Singer was born on July 24, 1904 in Radzymin, Poland. By 1935 he had published his first book, SATAN IN GORAY (1935).  In New York, Isaac Bashevis Singer began working for THE JEWISH DAILY FORWARD, and in the 1940s published his work in a number of journals as well as serially in the THE FORWARD. In 1950 Singer produced his first major work, THE FAMILY MOSKAT—the story of a twentieth century Polish Jewish family before the war. He followed this novel with a series of well-received short stories, including his most famous, “GIMPEL, THE FOOL” One of his most famous novels (due to a popular movie remake) was ENEMIES: A LOVE STORY, in which a Holocaust survivor deals with his own desires, complex family relationships, and the loss of faith. Singer's feminist story YENTL has had a wide impact on culture since its conversion into a popular movie starring Barbra Streisand. Perhaps the most fascinating Singer-inspired film is 1974's MR. SINGER'S NIGHTMARE OR MRS. PUPKOS BEARD Beard by Bruce Davison, a renowned photographer who became Singer's neighbor. This unique film is a half-hour mixture of documentary and fantasy for which Singer not only wrote the script but played the leading role. Singer also wrote two novels about nineteenth century Polish-Jewish history before returning to more modern topics in the 1970s. Throughout the 1970s he wrote dozens of stories that were eventually collected into books, and published in Yiddish and English as well as many other languages. He branched out, writing memoirs and children’s books as well as two other major novels set in the twentieth century, THE PENITENT (1974) and SHOSHA (1978). The same year as his publication of SHOSHA, Singer won the Nobel Prize in literature. In 1988 he published THE KING OF THE FIELDS and three years later, SCUM, a story of a man living in an early-twentieth-century Polish shtetl.

 

THE LIAR SHOW, November 19th!

4 Storytellers, 3 True Stories, 1 Pack of Lies.

The Liar Show  features New York's most celebrated storytellers telling stories that will make you laugh, make you think, or just make you glad you’re not them. But listen carefully because one of these people is making it all up.  Audience members interrogate the tellers and cast their vote for the Liar.  Winners receive a Liar t-shirt. With James Braly (recently featured on NPR'S This American Life on their "Infidelity" program), Martin Dockery (Wanderlust), Ophira Eisenberg (Comedy Central), and Steve Osborne (NYPD Gang Squad Lieutenant). Hosted by Andy Christie (who?). A discussion and reception with Christie and the storytellers follows the performance.

For a video trailer of The Liar Show, click here

Tickets are $25. To order by phone, call (914) 698-0098 or online at www.emelin.org

The Liar Show is presented in New York City at The People's Improv Theater, Comix, the Cornelia Street Café and the DR2 Lounge and was a hit at The 2008 Edinburgh Festival Fringe.  The shows aren't literary readings -- the performers don't read, they "tell" -- nor are they stand-up comedy, but the stories are as thoughtfully crafted as literature, and as entertainment, they're refreshingly direct and funny.  And with "Liar" you get to play along. It's smart AND it's fun.  How odd.

 

Andy Christie is the the creator and host of “Liar.” He is co-author and illustrator of "I Wasn't Kidding" (Random House/Ballantine Books) as well as a featured Moth Main Stage storyteller (in New Haven and  The Players Club in NYC), and four-time Moth Story Slam champion. His short stories & essays have appeared in The New York Times, literary journals and online (The Distillery; GSU Review; Mr. Beller's Neighborhood; Dan Kennedy's Really Small Talk, among others). Please visit www.andychristie.com

 

The Storytellers:

 

James Braly was recently featured on NPR's This American Life, and was dubbed "never less than excellent" by The New York Times.  The only two-time winner of the Moth's GrandSlam, he has told his stories on NPR and with the Moth/TNT National Tour. His monologue, "Life In A Marital Institution (20 years of monogamy in one terrifying hour)," had an extended, critically-acclaimed run off-Broadway last season, is now on tour, and a book by the same title is forthcoming. www.JamesBraly.com  

 

Martin Dockery is co-creator of the play C-R-E-P-U-S-C-U-L-E, which ran on Broadway as "The 25th Annuall Putnam County Spelling Bee." His play, "Oh, That Wily Snake!" is being read by university students as part of a McGraw-Hill anthology textbook on literature.  The New York Times has called his writing "Fey and fantastic," Backstage West has called it "deliciously enjoyable," and the L.A. Weekly has deemed it "compelling...entertaining...divinely inspired."  His one-person show, "Wanderlust," was enthusiastically received when it was presented as part of The Insights & Revelations Performance Series in 2008.  A frequent performer in New York's storytelling scene, he is a record seven-time finalist in the Moth's bi-annual Storytelling Championship.  www.MartinDockery.com

 

Ophira Eisenberg is a MAC Award Finalist for Best Female Comic, and has appeared on Comedy Central's Premium Blend and Fresh Faces of Comedy. She also had her own comedy special on CTV’s Comedy Now! Ophira performs regularly at renowned comedy clubs all over the world and also tours with The Moth, a NYC storytelling phenomenon and is currently featured on the Moth’s Audience Favorites CD.  Ophira was selected by BackStage as one of "10 Standout Stand Ups Worth Watching" in their Spotlight on Comedy Issue and hailed as a “Highly Recommended Favorite” by Time Out New York magazine.

 

Steve Osborne spent 20 years in the NYPD.  He retired a lieutenant in the detective bureau, where he was the commanding officer of the Manhattan Gang Squad.  he has told his hair-raising stories on stages all over the U.S.  He also works as a police procedural consultant for television and film.

 

Inside Shakespeare on October 1st

We are delighted to welcome the esteemed Shakespeare Society to The Insights & Revelations Performance Series on October 1st.

Inside Shakespeare is one of our most popular programs, having previously presented Classic Stage Company in open rehearsals of The Merchant of Venice and Richard III, with Ron Leibman and Michael Cumpstly.  Now we are eagerly anticipating an evening with The Shakespeare Society as they give us an inside look at Measure for Measure, starring Elisabeth Waterston (The Tempest opposite Mandy Patinkin, and Much Ado About Nothing opposite Sam Waterston), Randy Harrison (best known for his role as Justin Taylor on Showtime's "Queer As Folk" and Boq in Wicked), and Ezra Knight (Cymbeline, Lincoln Center).  The evening will feature an open rehearsal of the play, directed by The Shakespeare Society's Artistic Director, Michael Sexton, with commentary by noted Shakespearean scholar Ruth Carpenter. As with all of our presentations, a discussion and reception with the artists will follow the performance.

 

As you can see from these photos of previous Shakespeare Society events, the Society features with some of the finest Shakespearean actors. Our presentation will be no exception when you witness Elisabeth Waterston, Randy Harrison, and Ezra Knight tackle, grapple, and play with Measure for Measure. 

About the Shakespeare Society:

The Shakespeare Society presents entertaining and challenging programs that combine stage performances by outstanding actors with illuminating commentary by noted Shakespearean writers, scholars, and directors.  Past participants have included F. Murray Abraham, Liev Schreiber, Ruben Santiago-Hudson, Kathleen Chalfant, Michael Cumpsty, Jefferson Mays, Marcia Gay Harden, Patrick Stewart, Sir Peter Hall, Derek Jacobi, Philip Bosco, Ralph Fiennes, John Guare, and Clair Bloom.    http://www.Shakespeare Society.org

Michael Sexton, Executive & Artistic Director, has directed world and New York premieres of plays by Marsha Norman, Rinne Groff, Ain Gordon, Rogelio Martinez, Victor Lodato, Phil Porter, Chloe Moss, Marin Gazzaniga, Caryl Churchill, Rosemary Moore, and Robert Clyman and workshops of plays by Tony Kushner. He has worked at New York Theater Workshop, the Public Theater, Manhattan Class Company, Soho Rep, PS122, Portland Center Stage, The Old Globe, Playmakers Rep, Rising Phoenix Rep, Cherry Lane Alternative, the Samuel Beckett Theater, and the Harold Clurman Theater, among others. He is a regular guest artist at NYU’s Graduate Acting Program (Zelda Fichandler, Chair), the JuilliardSchool (Michael Kahn, Chair), and most recently, Columbia University.  He co-edited (with Tim Page) Four Plays by Dawn Powell for Steerforth Press.

Photo Credits:

Top left: Hamish Linklater and

Laila Robins

Center right: Denis O'Hare & Martha Plimpton

Bottom Left: Artistic Director Michael Sexton 

Photographer: Ellen Kelson

 

2008/2009 Season Wrap-Up

Many thanks to all of you that came out for a wonderfully eclectic,

theatrically electric season!

 

The season began with a funny and wrenching performance by Jenny Allen in her solo show I Got Sick Then I Got Better, directed by James Lapine. Because the show is in development at New York Theatre Workshop, we were treated to a great post-show conversation with Jenny, Associate Director Darren Katz, and New York Theatre Workshop's Literary Associate, Geoffrey Scott.

"I Got Sick" photo credit: Alan Haywood

 

The season continued with a first for the Series: a presentation from The Aquila Theatre Company, while it was currently running off-Broadway...Director Peter Meineck talked about the process of adapting Catch-22 for the stage, and presented his cast in excerpts of the full performance. Engaging commentary and audience discussion was interwoven with the presentation.

Catch-22 photos by Richard Termine

 

We started off 2009 by welcoming back James Braly. Braly first performed in the Series in 2006, with a then-brand-new monologue called Life In A Marital Institution (20 years of monogamy in one terrifying hour).  After the long run off-Broadway with Life, a book and film deal, James has written his second full-length monologue, The Monthly Nut, and once again Series-goers were among the first to see it.

"Nut" photo credits - left: Lynda Shenkman-Curtis, center graphic: Andy Christie, right: Jaisen Crockett

 

And another first for the Series. The stage was over-run with talent for our presentation of Marriage & Other Odd Occurrences: An Evening of Short Stories & Jazz.  Celebrated actors John Shea and Dennis Boutsikaris read short stories by Alethea Black, with an extraordinary Jazz Interlude with Jody Sandhaus and Pete Malinverni.  The evening was directed by Elliott Forrest, who also moderated the post-show discussion.  The following month, the stories were read at Riverspace Arts in Nyack by Matthew Arkin and Andrew Greenaway.

"Marriage" photo credit: Alan Haywood

We closed the season with a bang, presenting LAByrinth Theater Company's developing production of Intringulis, written and performed by Carlo Alban and directed by David Anzuelo. It was a powerful evening of theatre as Carlo sang, told his story, and inhabited the many characters in his neighborhood.

Intringulis photo credit: Tahli DeCourcy O'Grady, graphics: Andy Christie

Please check back with us soon to see what we have planned for next season!

 

Marriage & Other Odd Occurrences

An Evening of Short Stories by Alethea Black

Directed by Elliott Forrest

With Broadway, film, and television stars:

 Dennis Boutsikaris

&

John Shea

SATURDAY, APRIL 18th at 8:30 p.m.

                  

                                               Dennis Boutsikaris                        John Shea                        

With a Musical Interlude with Jazz Singer Jody Sandhaus,

accompanied by Steinway Artist Pete Malinverni

     

Jody Sandhaus &  Pete Malinverni

The short stories to be read are: The Thing Itself (2008 Arts & Letters Prize winner) to be read by award-winning actor Dennis Boutsikaris, and That Of Which We Cannot Speak (Honorable Mention as one of the 100 Finalists for The 2008 Best American Short Stories collection, edited by Salman Rushdie) to be read by John Shea. The readings will be followed by a discussion and reception with the writer, director, and actors about the process of writing, directing, and performing the works.

The two stories are tied together by the theme of marriage – one from the point of view of a married man facing the disappointment of a childless marriage and an unfulfilling career, and the other a regretfully divorced man. Both stories are emotionally incisive, as well as charmingly humorous. As the title, Marriage & Other Odd Occurrences, might suggest, each story contains the presence of unexplainable events and impulses, some of which are life-changing.

Excerpt from That Of Which We Cannot Speak:

Earlier that evening, under the pale light of streetlamps, Bradley had sat on a park bench and watched a small row of trees carefully gathering snow. It was as if they were beckoning it, as though the snow were something they’d been wanting to say.

Now, speeding down Fifth Avenue in a cab whose driver had no apparent awareness of his own mortality, Bradley wished he were back on that park bench. Or in the diner they just passed. Or that police station. Anywhere but on his way to a party where strangers with cardboard hats and noisemakers always made him feel like he was on the wrong planet.

It was 10:15 New York time, which meant it would already be 3:15 a.m. in Islington. Probably too late to call your ex-wife, even if it was New Year’s Eve.  Even if she were most likely still out somewhere, sequined, laughing, ice making music in her glass. Besides, what would he say? “I’m sorry” was so easy and generic. Gail hated lack of specificity; in fact, this was one of the charms that had drawn him to her in the first place. Whenever he used to overhear her on the phone with one of her sisters—the pair had met while fundraising for a nature conservancy—she was always begging for details. “What were you wearing? What did he order? Did he leave a nice tip?”

Unfortunately, this charm had later been used as a weapon. Toward the end, a counselor had pressed him to try to describe what was missing in their marriage. He couldn’t. “It’s ineffable,” he said, at which point Gail stood up and shouted, “Well why don’t you try eff-ing it!” ...

 

BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION

 

ALETHEA BLACK was born in Boston and graduated from Harvard College in 1991. Her father was a mathematician, and for a long time she believed her name, the Greek word for truth, was his way of tipping his cap to the idea of absolutes. Then one day her mother overheard her and said, “No, we got your name from a TV show.” (Judd, for the Defense.) Her first published story was chosen by Joan Silber to win the Grand Prize in Inkwell's 2007 Fiction Competition. Her work has also appeared in the Antioch Review, The Chattahoochee Review, the North American Review, and The Saint Ann's Review, and the American Literary Review.  She recently won the 2008 Arts & Letters Prize, and was listed as a distinguished story in Best American Short Stories 2008, edited by Salman Rushdie. She lives in Pawling, NY, where she is working on a novel.

 

DENNIS BOUTSIKARIS' Broadway credits include AMADEUS (Mozart), FILUMENA (directed by Sir Laurence Olivier) and BENT.  Off-Broadway, he received an OBIE and a Drama Desk Nomination for SIGHT UNSEEN at The Manhattan Theatre Club.  Other Off-Broadway credits include NEST OF THE WOODGROUSE (OBIE for Outstanding Performance) at the New York Public Theatre, THE BOYS NEXT DOOR, A PICASSO (as Picasso), THAT CHAMPIONSHIP SEASON at Second Stage, and as Cassius in JULIUS CAESAR at the New York Shakespeare Festival.  Boutsikaris most recently appeared in QUALITY OF LIFE for The Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles for which he received an Ovation Nomination and Backstage West Garland Award for his performance.  Dennis has appeared in many T.V. Movies, including CHASING THE DRAGON (Cable Ace Nomination for Best Supporting Actor), AND THEN THERE WAS ONE, (both for Lifetime), and LOVE & BETRAYAL, SURVIVAL ON THE MOUNTAIN, and THE MIA FARROW STORY as Woody Allen.  As a television series regular he has been seen in STAT, THE JACKIE THOMAS SHOW, SIDNEY LUMET'S 100 CENTRE STREET, J.J. Abrams' SIX DEGREES and has lost many, many cases on LAW AND ORDER.  His film work includes *batteries not included, DREAM TEAM, BOYS ON THE SIDE, CROCODILE DUNDEE 2 and most recently as Paul Wolfowitz in Oliver Stone's "W."  He is the recipient of two Audie Awards for his work in narrating over 60 audiobooks.

ELLIOTT FORREST Elliott is the Co-Artistic Director of Riverspace Arts in Nyack, producing and presenting concerts, events and series of programs. Highlights include producing events with Lewis Black, Eve Ensler and an evening with Edward Albee interviewed by Bill Irwin; overseeing children's series, film series, and music concerts. Elliott Forrest also is a Peabody Award winning broadcaster and Producer. For more than 12 years he was with the A&E Television Network as host of Breakfast with the Arts. He was nominated for an Emmy in 2002 and 2005. Additional A&E hosting duties have included Biography^® This Week, Richard Rodgers: Falling in Love, A&E In Concert, Pavarotti in Paris, BioArts and The Pablo Casals Festival from Puerto Rico.  He can now be heard on 96.3 FM WQXR in New York and on WQXR.com, the classical radio station in New York City owned by The New York Times. He is heard nationally as the radio host of the syndicated concerts from The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, The Seattle Symphony and The Jerusalem Symphony.

 

PETE MALINVERNI.  Jim Macnie of the Village Voice was recently moved to call Malinverni, “audacious and exquisite”. Since coming to New York in 1981, Pete has established himself as a highly respected presence in local and national club and concert performances, as well as abroad in Europe, South America, and Japan, his work earning him an entry in the Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz, as compiled by Ira Gitler and Leonard Feather. Writing in the Charleston (SC) Post and Courier, Jack McCray called him “a fiery but elegant pianist”, and his varied collaborations stand as testament to his abilities. He’s performed or recorded in the company of jazz luminaries too numerous to mention, exhibiting what Enso Fresia of Italy's Musica Jazz called “an extremely unconstrained and brilliant pianism”. His much-lauded 2003 NPR appearance on Marian McPartland’s “Piano Jazz” put Malinverni before a greater public and his recordings have earned four star reviews and inclusion on “Year’s Best” lists in several publications, including Down Beat Magazine.

Pete Malinverni is a composer, too. A composer of great depth, passion and individuality, he has received grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Meet the Composer Foundation.

 

JODY SANDHAUS. Since the 1980’s, Jody has been a fixture on the musical scene in New York and its environs, being heard there and around the world in such venues as New York Steinway Hall, The Charles Ives Performing Arts Center, Zinno Jazz Club, The Villa Celimontana Jazz Festival in Rome, etc.. Her first solo album, "Winter Moon" on Saranac Records, gave us the first opportunity to hear a collection of songs recorded as Jody came to feel them—personally, and without artifice. Reviewing “Winter Moon” in JazzTimes, Chuck Berg said that, “Jody Sandhaus is an evocative vocalist whose sultry after-hours delivery meshes perfectly with such exquisitely excruciating torch tales as “Not in Love.” Berg also remarked that “clearly, Sandhaus is a singer who’s also a musician. She phrases like a horn and swings with uptown élan.” The mother of three, Sandhaus is married to pianist Pete Malinverni, who, along with bassist Rufus Reid and drummer Leroy Williams, joins her on “Winter Moon.”  Malinverni, legendary bassist Michael Moore and Leroy Williams ply their significant talents in support of Jody on "I Think of You" released in the Summer of 2001. Jody’s newest CD, "A Fine Spring Morning," released October, 2004. This beautiful CD once again features Pete Malinverni and Leroy Williams. Bassist Todd Coolman joins them on this third album.

JOHN SHEA began a successful stage career soon after his graduation from the Yale School of Drama. He made his New York stage debut in "Yentl" as Avigdor and went on to win plaudits for his performances in "The Sorrows of Stephen" (1979), "The Dining Room" (1982) and "End of the World" (1984).  In London, he played the leading role in Larry Kramer's searing AIDS drama "The Normal Heart" (1986). Shea first appeared in film as the son of Jack Lemmon who disappears in Costa-Gavras' "Missing" (1982), won a Best Actor citation at the Montreal Film Festival for his role in "Windy City" (1984) and delivered a villainous turn in "Honey, I Blew Up the Kid" (1992). Shea is also a popular TV actor and won an Emmy for his performance in the 1988 "surrogate mother" miniseries, "Baby M." He co-starred in the short-lived CBS series "WIOU" (1990) and was featured during the run of "Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman" (ABC, 1993-97) as the charmingly corrupt Lex Luthor. Other television roles include Harold Waldorf in "Gossip Girl," "Law & Order," and "Sex and the City."  He will soon appear in two upcoming films: "An Invisible Sign of My Own" and "Achchamundu! Achchamundu!"

For tickets, click on the Ticket Information Link to the right, or click here to go straight to the ticket ordering page.

Artists appearing subject to availability.

Coming May 30th

 From the Award-winning LAByrinth Theater Company

John Ortiz, Philip Seymour Hoffman, John Gould Rubin - Artistic Directors

A solo tour de force play with music

Written & Performed by Carlo Alban

Directed by David Anzuelo

Novelist, sniper, television personality, delinquent youth.  Window washer, tourist, Beelzebub, idealist youth. Vigilante, rock star wannabe, minuteman, apolitical youth, Latin American protest singer.  Illegal immigrant.  These are the people in Carlo Alban’s neighborhood and he will inhabit them all in this Tour de Force solo show with music.

“Intringulis seems poised to offer something fresh to New York theater: a highly personal and slyly humorous take on illegal immigration from Latin America."  - The Herald News

 

 

Saturday, May 30th at 9:00 p.m.

(running time: 1:15)

at the Rosenthal JCC Theatre in Pleasantville

A discussion and champagne/dessert reception with the artist

 follows the performance.

 

For tickets, please click on the "Ticket Information" link to your right.

 

 

In trin gu lis: 

1: ulterior motive 2: snag, difficulty 3: enigma, mystery

 

 

CARLO ALBÁN (Writer/Performer): 

 

“In 1994 I had the opportunity to see a live taping of the TV sketch comedy ‘House of Buggin’ starring John Leguizamo.  One of the skits in that episode was about Superman showing up at a California hospital after being fatally wounded with a kryptonite bullet and being denied medical attention because he was an alien – literally.  I had seen the show on television and had been somewhat taken by it.  However, sitting with a live audience, the remoteness and canned laughter of the television set was replaced by an immediate, shared experience and I was made conscious of a certain fellowship that exits among assembled crowds.  It was also the first time I had witnessed someone outside the realm of politics or news media speak about what was routinely left unspoken, and seeing it articulated in such a clever, engaging manner left an impression that affects me to this day.”  Carlo is a LAByrinth Company Member since 2002. Carlo is an Ecuadorian-born American citizen by way of California, New Jersey, and "Sesame Street."  He has appeared in Octavio Solis' Lydia, Jose Rivera's References to Salvador Dali Make Me Hot, John Patrick Shanley’s A Winter’s Party, and Stephen Belber’s A Small Melodramatic Story for LAByrinth. He is perhaps best-known for his six-year stint as “Carlo” on “Sesame Street.” His film and TV credits include Whip It! directed by Drew Barrymore, Kenneth Lonergan's Margaret, Live Free or Die, Strangers with Candy, 21 Grams, “Law & Order,” “Touched by an Angel,” and “Thicker than Blood.”

DAVID ANZUELO (writer/lyricist for Minotaur: A Romance!):  LAByrinth Company Member since 1992.  He is an actor/writer and occasional director from El Paso, Texas.  Acting credits: Francisco & Benny (IntarLAB), Moonlight Mile (LAByrinth), Dreaming in Tongues (LAByrinth), Knives & Other Sharp Objects (LAByrinth, Barn Series 2006 & 2007), Frost/Nixon (regional premiere, Repertory Theater of St. Louis), Corporate Carnival (Women’s Project), Night Over Taos (INTAR), September Shoes (Geva), Aunt Dan & Lemon (New Group), Stand-Up Tragedy (Joseph Jefferson Award for Best Supporting Actor, Apple Tree Theater), Richard Schechner’s Hamlet.  Directing credits: Dave’s first directing job (thanks to John Ortiz) was as Peter Sellars's assistant for the international tour of The Merchant of Venice.  Other directing credits: DeathWatch (IntarLab), Intríngulis (LAByrinth), Darwaza (LAByrinth), First Voice (LAByrinth Barn Series), No Salute (NY Hip Hop Festival), Feeder: A Love Story (Terra Nova Collective/UnderGroundZero Festival, audience favorite award).  Original work written / conceived by Dave: Killing/Play (LAByrinth, Live Nude Plays 2007), Queen Latina & the Power Posse (LAByrinth), Estrellita/Luminaria (INTAR), Agua/Aceite (INTAR), Aire/Arena (INTAR), Camino/Montana (INTAR), Grasshopper (George St. Playhouse).  Dave is the recipient of two Mex-Am Foundation grants for new work and a 2005 Alan Schneider Directors Award nomination.  He teaches Personal Myth movement workshops for LAByrinth’s Master Class series, and does freelance fight direction for numerous off-Broadway theaters.  He is the front-man for his beloved Texas-flavored, goth-rock band, MonsterRally.

LABYRINTH THEATER COMPANY, in residence at The Public Theater, was founded in 1992 by a group of actors who wanted to push their artistic limits, hone their craft, and create new plays that truly reflected their heritage and experience.  LAByrinth today is comprised of almost 100 established and emerging theatre artists from a wide array of cultural perspectives.  An inclusive, multicultural ensemble that encourages all members to write, act, direct, and design, LAByrinth supports multidisciplinary growth and exploration in the creation of daring new work that celebrates the diversity of its New York City home. Over the last 17 years, LAByrinth has developed hundreds of plays and staged 50 new American plays and has received 12 Drama Desk Award nominations, 8 Lucille Lortel Award nominations, 2 AUDELCO Award nominations, a Drama League Award nomination, an Olivier Award nomination, an Edinburgh Fringe First Award, and the 2002 Jujamcyn Theaters Award for outstanding contribution to the development of creative talent for the theater. Learn more about LAByrinth at labtheater.org.

 

Photo of Carlo Alban in "Intringulis" by Tahli DeCourcy O'Grady

 

Presented in partnership with the Rosenthal JCC & made possible by the Arts Alive Program of ArtsWestchester, with funding from the Decentralization Program of the New York State Council on the Arts; The Joseph & Sophia Abeles Foundation; Jacob Burns Foundation; David Schwartz Foundation; The Art of Wine; Cold Stone Creamery; The Village Bookstore; and our Producer's Circle.

 

 

Coming in November: A new monologue from New York Theatre Workshop, the Producers of 'RENT'

I GOT SICK, THEN I GOT BETTER

Written & Performed by Jenny Allen (Spalding Gray: Stories Left to Tell, Jules' Blues)

Directed by Tony Award winner James Lapine (Passion, Into The Woods, Falsettos, 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee)

I Got Sick, Then I Got Better is about the harrowing tailspin of being diagnosed and treated for ovarian cancer. Combining enormous humor with wrenching emotion, this witty, bittersweet monologue tells a tale of personal and family collateral damage from the illness.

This sneak preview will take place on Saturday, November 15th at 8:00 p.m. at The Rosenthal JCC Theatre in Pleasantville.

A discussion and reception with the artists follows the performance.

For Tickets, call Smarttix at (212) 868-4444 or visit www.smarttix.com

Catch-22 invades Pleasantville on December 7th!

INSIDE LOOK:

The internationally-renowned Aquila Theatre Company will deploy their production of CATCH-22 on Sunday December 7th at 7:00 p.m.!

CATCH-22
Based on the modern American classic novel by Joseph Heller.

Directed by Peter Meineck

Featuring John Lavelle (Broadway’s The Graduate) as Yossarian

Audiences will have a rare opportunity to see the cast perform excerpts of scenes from the Internationally-acclaimed Aquila Theatre's Premiere Off-Broadway production of CATCH-22 . The director and cast will talk with the audience about the making of this exciting new stage adaptation. A reception withe artists follows the program.

Joseph Heller's Catch-22 is a modern American classic. The book by Joseph Heller was first published in 1961 and immediately caused a huge furor in the literary world. Yossarian is a bombardier on a B-25, based on a small island off the coast of Italy in 1944. He starts to question the futile and ridiculous administration of his air base and seeks a way to preserve his life when the whole world around him seems to be going mad. Like a modern-day Achilles, Yossarian protests with powerful and often hilarious results. Catch-22 tackles huge things with rich metaphors, boldly drawn characters and near-impossible situations. It is a work of great theatricality with superb language and a sense of dark surrealism. Heller dares to examine the very philosophy of war and what it does to the humans that fight them. For a whole new generation of Americans, Yossarian Lives!

To Order Tickets, call Smarttix: (212) 868-4444 or www.smarttix.com

2007/2008 Season Wrap-Up

What a great season this was. Thanks to all of you that turned out for our presentations, setting the record for audience attendance this year!

The season began in September 2007 with an open rehearsal of Classic Stage Company’s upcoming production of Richard III, starring Michael Cumpsty.

Artistic Director Brian Kulick led the cast in a rehearsal of key scenes from the play, discussing the context and various approaches to the play, the characters, and each particular scene. Often, Kulick asked the performers to repeat sections of the scene, utilizing differing intentions and interpretations. In this way, the audience was introduced to the inner workings of taking Shakespeare from the page to the stage, gaining a deeper insight into Shakespeare’s artistry along the way.

Michael Cumpsty at the post-show reception surrounded by Purchase Drama students.

LIFE In A Marital Institution opens off-Broadway!

"Full of Laughs and Insight" - The New York Times Highly Recommended Hit is Back!

CLICK HERE TO VIEW A VIDEO EXCERPT OF THE SHOW.

Regulars of The Insights & Revelations Performance Series may have caught James Braly's Life In A Marital Institution (20 years of monogamy in one terrifying hour) in May 2006 when the piece was first shown. Last summer, the show enjoyed a very successful engagement at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, and then premiered off-off Broadway at 59E59 Theaters in New York City, for a critically-acclaimed, sold-out 4 week run in Feb/March 2008, produced by The Deep End Productions and Little Johnny Koerber. We are proud to announce the show's move to an Off-Broadway Theatre.

SOLD OUT: An Open Rehearsal from the Producers of Spring Awakening

Atlantic Theater Company’s Port Authority

From the producers of Broadway’s eight-time Tony Award-winning Spring Awakening, comes an open rehearsal of the New York premiere of Port Authority. Two members of the stellar cast of Port Authority - John Gallagher, Jr. (2007 Tony Award winner for originating the role of Moritz in Spring Awakening) and Brian d'Arcy James (Tony Nominee, Sweet Smell of Success) - will be mid-way through their rehearsal process when they join us. Hear about their creative rehearsal process and witness director Henry Wishcamper discuss various interpretations and acting approaches with the cast as he rehearses and re-rehearses select portions of the script. Get a behind the scenes look at the creative process of bring a New York Premiere to The Atlantic Theater Company.

After the performance, there will be a discussion and reception with the artists.

Brian d'Arcy James

John Gallagher, Jr. with "Tony"

In Port Authority, we meet Kevin, Dermot and Joe, three generations of Irishmen. Set against the backdrop of contemporary Dublin, each man’s story is a beautifully woven tale of failure, loss and the elusiveness of love. With great wit and humor, Tony-nominated playwright Conor McPherson (this season's Broadway hit, "The Seafarer," as well as "Shining City," "The Weir," and "Dublin Carol") expertly exposes the heart of the common man.

THE MONTHLY NUT

How much misery does it take to be happy?

Written/Performed by James Braly ("Life In A Marital Institution")

Directed by Seth Barrish ("Sleepwalk With Me," "The Tricky Part")

Saturday, February 28th, 8:00 p.m.  James Braly - whose critically-acclaimed off-Broadway hit, Life In A Marital Institution ran for 14 weeks last season – turns his wit and insight to a new comic monologue, “The Monthly Nut.” A timely autobiographical story about the lengths to which a man will go to be a provider, including working at a job he hates, to pay for a lifestyle he can't afford, to live a life that makes him miserable, so that the family can be happy….

Time Out New York called Braly “A comic raconteur who can hold a room captive” and the London Times and New York Post compared him to Spalding Gray. The New York Times just says he’s “Never less than excellent!”

For a video clip of James Braly's "Life In A Marital Institution," click here.

A discussion and reception with James Braly follows the performance.

Reservations Suggested. To order tickets online from SmartTix, click here.

By phone at (212) 868-4444. 

JAMES BRALY (Writer/Performer) premiered Life In A Marital Institution at the 2007 Edinburgh Festival Fringe, before transferring to a sold-out run at 59E59 Theaters, and again transferring Off-Broadway to SoHo Playhouse for a 10-week, critically-acclaimed engagement.  The film rights for Life has since been optioned by a studio, and a book is in the works.  Braly has performed autobiographical stories on NPR and at The Whitney Museum, Long Wharf Theatre, Ars Nova, Dixon Place, KGB, LIAR, Speakeasy, Beyond Words, and The Moth, where he was featured on the TNT National Story Tour and is the only two-time winner of their GrandSlam storytelling competition.  His essays have appeared in New York Press, and his commentaries have been broadcast nationally on Marketplace.  The Monthly Nut is his second full-length monologue.  The original story from which the monologue was inspired will be included in an upcoming anthology for Mr. Beller's Neighborhood.

SETH BARRISH (Director) Co-Founder and Co-Artistic Director of The Barrow Group, a non-profit theatre company in New York City.  Mr. Barrish has worked as an actor, director, composer, and musical director internationally, Off-Broadway, Off-Off-Broadway, and in regional theatres for over 30 years.  Directing Credits include:  “Sleepwalk With Me” (currently running at the Bleecker Street Theatres), Stephen King’s “Misery,” David Edgar’s “Pentecost” (Drama Desk Nomination for Best Play), Martin Moran’s “The Tricky Part” (Obie Award, Drama Desk Nominations for Best Play and Best Solo Show), “Nicolette & Aucasin,” “Old Wicked Songs” (L.A. Drama Critics Circle Award & Garland Award for Best Direction), “Thy Kingdom’s Coming,” “Lonely Planet,” “Good” (Straw Hat Award for Best Direction),” “Ghost In The Machine,” “Tales From Hollywood,” “Greetings,” “Beau Jest,” “Three Sisters,” and “When You Comin’ Back Red Ryder?”  Theatres: The Signature Theater, Asolo Center for the Performing Arts, The Promenade, The McCarter, Long Wharf, Sundance Theatre Lab, The Geffen Playhouse, Playhouse 91, La MaMa E.T.C., The Perry Street Theatre, Provincetown Rep, Capital Rep, Miniature Theatre of Chester, and The Barrow Group.  Mr. Barrish has made numerous film and television appearances and is a professional acting and directing teacher at The Barrow Group School in New York City.  He recently served as a Master Teacher at the International Director’s Symposium in Spoleto, Italy. He is the author of the book An Actors Companion – 99 Bits of Craft.

photo credit: Lynda Shenkman-Curtis

SYMPHONY SPACE Performance is Sold Out

Thalia Follies: A Political Cabaret

The Deep End Productions will present the world-renowned arts center, Symphony Space, in its acclaimed and irreverent Thalia Follies: A Political Cabaret – featuring Isaiah Sheffer, artistic director of Symphony Space and celebrated host of its Selected Shorts on public radio stations nationwide–at The Insights & Revelations Performance Series. The performance is sold out, so read below about the show and then get your self to their next Follies presentation at Symphony Space in the city, and get on The Insights & Revelations Performance Series' mailing list so that you don't miss our next presentation!

2006/2007 Season Wrap-Up

Thanks to all of you that joined us last season; we had great fun and great crowds, as well as some very interesting post-performance discussions. Here are some highlights from last season and be sure to join us when we start up again on September 29th (and do reserve early, we are selling out most shows)...

The season began with a sneak preview of the American Premiere of "The Timekeepers" from the award-winning off-Broadway company, The Barrow Group.

Later that fall, The Classic Stage Company showed us the inspiring process of bringing Shakespeare from the page to the stage, with an open rehearsal of "The Merchant of Venice," with Ron Leibman as Shylock.

Experience WANDERLUST in March

Wanderlust
A Solo Trek written and performed by Martin Dockery, directed by Jean Michele-Gregory

Saturday, March 1, 2008 at 8:00 p.m.
The Rosenthal JCC Theatre
600 Bear Ridge Road in Pleasantville

After more than a decade of temping, both at work and in relationships, a man embarks on a five-month solo trip deep into West Africa and across the Sahara. There he demands an Epiphany. Any Epiphany. Some proof that though we may be temporary, we’re more than mere temps. Comic, affecting, and true, this is one man’s quest for the perfectly meaningful story. (Or, at the least, something that’ll take his mind off his engaged ex-girlfriend.)