These days, it can seem nearly impossible to put down your Blackberry or iPhone. But two playwrights are using this media fascination to their advantage.
"As a theater artist, there's always been an issue of how to get your audience involved," said co-creator Allison Goldberg. "I think there's a way we can take this addiction and obsession with new media and use it to bring people back into live theater."
Continue reading "Internet Fads Jump From Screen to Stage in 'Blogologues' " »
Apparently, performing Shakespeare on a traditional stage is becoming too old-fashioned. And with all the parks, parking lots, and above ground open spaces in New York already occupied by Bard-loving performers this summer, Popeye & Cloudy have taken their Shakespearean act underground -- to the subway.
Popeye & Cloudy (who take their name from characters in The French Connection) are actually two Brooklyn-based performers, Paul Marino and Fred Jones, who met while doing open mic stand-up in Clinton Hill. After discovering their mutual love of impromptu performance style, Marino suggested they take their act to the subway, and have been performing for unsuspecting straphangers between stops on several of the city's underground lines.
“I’m in love with that kind of art, that organic, wild art of busking,” Marino told the New York Times. “Fred and I share this courage in terms of the places we’ll go as performers.”
Four years ago actress and playwright Erin Austin graduated from the University of Miami with a B.F.A. in musical theatre, moved to New York, and never looked back.
Instead of getting into the tiresome routine of auditioning and waitressing, the Tampa native jumped right into doing what she loved. She co-founded the Plastic Flamingo Theater Company with Ross Evans and Diane Zelenka, and started getting her own work produced—often acting in them as well.
Continue reading "Erin Austin Finds the Fringe a Perfect 'Fit'" »
Producer Ken Davenport announced today that Hunter Parrish will be playing the role of Jesus in the upcoming Broadway revival of Godspell, Broadwayworld.com reports. Parrish is most popularly known for his portrayal of Silas Botwin on Weeds, which is currently in its seventh season on Showtime. He has also previously starred on Broadway as Melchoir in the Tony Award-winning musical Spring Awakening.
"I am elated to be joining the Godspell family, and honored to be a part of bringing this thrilling classic back to Broadway," Parrish said. "I knew after meeting with the creative team that I was going to be a part of something really exciting. I can't wait to get started."
Continue reading "Hunter Parrish to Play Jesus in 'Godspell' Revival" »
Neon lights, mile-wide billboards, and monster screens are not the only things that make Times Square a wonderland. On the ground – far below the hi-tech spectacles, and scattered throughout the hoards who visit the theater district each day – are live actors performing for the crowds.
Dressed in striking costumes as characters from some of the most popular shows on Broadway, these animated street performers attract the attention of flocks of wandering visitors. Their draw? Live human energy. Zoned-out tourists, ambling with their eyes to the sky and jaws dropped, snap back to street level as a grinning Chicago chorus girl slinks past with Fosse flare. A family bustling past with rolling suitcases slows to share a tickled laugh with a stewardess from Catch Me If You Can as she offers the local time. John Lennon of the Beatles tribute musical Rain waves good morning to a bike messenger, and a 1950s sock-hopper skips down the sidewalk singing "Baby, It’s You."
They are all part of a street team employed by a creative promotional company called Theatre MAMA, and their mission is to distribute free discount ticket vouchers (up to 50 percent off) to several Broadway shows, while providing an impromptu, up-close preview of what it feels like to be in the audience.
Continue reading "Getting In Character with Theatre MAMA in Times Square" »
The world's longest-running musical, The Fantasticks, is opening its stage doors, offering free backstage tours for the audience after every weekend matinee performance from now until Labor Day. During these tours at the Snapple Theater Center in NYC, theatergoers can see how show magic is made, meet cast members, and get a free Snapple. They are also not only allowed, but encouraged, to take pictures. (Even though there is no additional charge for the tour, a reservation is required.)
Cast member Edward Watts, who just recently finished his run as El Gallo in the show, said he liked the opportunity to talk to the audience after a performance -- especially the kids. "Many of them told me how much they liked the ‘magic’ of the show and were curious as to what goes on behind the scenes and how we did all the exciting things they’d just just seen," he said. "And while they might have tried to hide it, the parents usually seemed pretty interested too!"
Continue reading "Go Behind-the-Scenes On a 'Fantastick' New Backstage Tour" »
During young actress Emma Stone's rise to movie stardom, she's fought zombies, wore a scarlet letter, and will win the heart of a young Peter Parker. But Stone is looking to add a different type of role to her repertoire: she admittedly dreams of being on Broadway.
According to Showbizspy.com, the star of Easy A, Zombieland, and Superbad said, "I would absolutely love to be on Broadway, but I have vocal nodules, so it's like a miracle I have made it through this week without my voice being gone. I lose my voice all the time."
Stone realizes the consequences that a health issue such as this would have on a potential career in theater -- a job that requires eight live performances a week -- as she recalls the difficulty she had working at the Valley Youth Theatre in Arizona. "When I was a kid doing theater, I lost my voice every other day, and it made the performances really difficult," she said. "If I could get a real handle on that, I would love to do theater."