Winking on April 9: GORDY CRASHES

The FREE "Winks" reading series continues with

Gordy Crashes

by Sam Byron

Directed by Judy Merrick

Sam Byron is a Chicago-born playwright living in New York City. His plays include "A Substitute for Margo" (Out of the Ashes Theatre Co., Chicago, IL), "Debt" (Horse Trade Theater, New York City, and Dillingham Center for Performing Arts, Ithaca, NY), "Brooklyn Vacancies" (finalist, New Works Program at T. Schreiber Studio, New York City), "Static" (finalist, HotCity Theater’s Greenhouse Festival, St. Louis), and "Animals" (Wide Eyed Productions, The Present Company, Fringe NYC, winner of award for Overall Excellence in Directing, Kristin Skye Hoffmann).Sam is currently pursuing an MFA in Playwriting from The New School for Drama where he was the 2012 recipient of the Steinberg New Playwrights Fellowship. He is a proud member of the Dramatists Guild of America and the Resident Playwright for Wide Eyed Production’s 2012- 2013 season.

Opening Act: Erik Frandsen

Legendary Greenwich Village guitarist, singer/songwriter extraordinaire, actor, and playwright who has recorded with many popular artists, and is also the co-author of the hit musical Song of Singapore joins us for April’s Wink. The NY Times calls him “Brilliantly Inventive,” and the Boston Globe described him as "The Straight Cole Porter.”

April 9, 2013

Doors open @ 6:30pm
Erik Frandsen @ 7:00pm 

GORDY CRASHES @ 7:30pm 

All performances are at The Underground Lounge
955 West End Avenue @ 107th St
New York, NY 10025

Tickets are Free, Space is Limited

After being displaced by Superstorm Sandy, Gordy couch-hops between friends before finally taking up an offer to crash with Ally, a girl from work with whom he has slept a few times. However, once Gordy arrives, he discovers that Ally is nowhere to be found, and Gordy is instead left with her roommate, who by unhappy coincidence happens upon his estranged ex-girlfriend, Mere. Taking place in the days before and after the election, Gordy Crashes follows Gordy as he forms an unlikely, and potentially dangerous, relationship with Mere's mysterious new boyfriend Job, who helps Gordy find the guts to face Mere and gain the closure that he has avoided for so long.

 

ABOUT THE "WINKS" SERIES:

Dec 11, 2012- June 4, 2013
The second Tuesday of every month! 

Wide Eyed Productions is embarking on a season of development as they explore new works, revisit the classics, and reimagine some of the best plays in the contemporary canon. This season predicates future seasons by workshopping and reading plays to excite and invigorate  theatergoers and the production company alike. Through a series of readings open to the public, Wide Eyed Productions aims to strike a chord within ourselves and the community.

This season of “Winks” is intended to develop work that will further define Wide Eyed as a company, as well as its place in the New York arts world. Every reading will give the audience a chance to have a voice on what Wide Eyed produces in its seventh season, as well as build support for the company and all of its talented members. We’ve picked our favorite contenders, and by attending and giving your feedback, you can help shape the next season at Wide Eyed.

UPCOMING:

May 14 - Proof by David Auburn
June 11 - TBD
July 9 - Reborning by Zayd Dohrn

And...

 ~ Save the Date: September 28, 2013 ~

Please join us for Wide Eyed Productions' first Gala Fundraiser!
It will be held at the beautiful Dune Studios.
Buy your tickets now at http://wideeyedproductions.eventbrite.com

THE MISER and Keri Waggoner

 Photos courtesy of Sky Seals

Saying "Yes, and" to Wide Eyed Improv with Brennan Lowery



All photos by Kristin Skye Hoffmann



 Wide Eyed Productions is hosting a series of improv forums moderated by Jeff Adams (Cardboard Box Theatre Team (Founder); Inoperable Humor (Member, Santa Clara, CA); Sanguine Humours (Captain, Educator); "Drew" in our FringeNYC 2012 production of Animals by Sam Byron) and Brennan Lowery (Second City Conservatory, iO Harold Team (Meridian); Playground House Team (The Grrr), The Whethermen (Member, Charlottesville, VA)).

Experienced improvisers and beginners are equally welcome. Why don’t you come and join us? Our next session will be held 12:00-2:00pm this Sunday, March 17, at The New School, 151 Bank St., in Manhattan. It’s free to participate. Come out and play with us! (Please note this is the final general improv group meeting. Going forward, we will be moving into more targeted groups with specific meeting times.) Contact us at wideeyedimprov@gmail.com for more details. 

 *****

[We met up with Brennan Lowery to see how the improv group is coming along, and thought you might be interested, as well! - Ed.]

• Please tell us about how this project was conceived. What led you to want to host this improv forum for Wide Eyed? 

Kristin Hoffmann, a classmate of ours at The New School for Drama, has worked extensively with Jeff and with me. She mentioned wanting to start an improv troupe at Wide Eyed, and we both expressed interest in getting on board in the early stages. She has enough trust in us that she asked us to head it up ourselves, and the first session was a blast. I, personally, consider improv my favorite art form, and I am thrilled to finally have an outlet to get back into it. 

• Can you give us a little taste of what's happened in the previous sessions? 

Right now, we just want to see where everyone is coming from in terms of their improv experience and how willing they are to get out there and make big, bold choices. We ran a few warm-ups to get a little more familiar with everyone, and then we ran a few short form improv games. Short form improv is typically rule-based (think Whose Line Is It Anyway?) and is a good way to get used to thinking on your feet. I was impressed with what I saw coming out of the people who had never done it before. Improv is truly for everyone interested. 

• How would you say the final general session on March 17 might be different? Do you have a game plan in mind, or are you (wait for it) …improvising? 

I see what you did there. The upcoming session will be much of the same, with maybe a little more of an introduction into long form improv. We really are looking to establish a good foundation of people that are interested and want to continue coming out. The more, the merrier (i.e., more troupes!), so anyone and everyone should be interested in coming out. We have people that have done it for several years all the way to last week was their first time, which was a true joy to watch and be part of. 

• Do either of you see this forum as perhaps being a gateway project of sorts (i.e., it might lead to a troupe, or perhaps a piece of devised theatre), or would you say this is more like a playground, where acting muscles get stretched? 

I think it is both --- we are intending to form a troupe for Wide Eyed (or troupes, depending on how many people regularly show up), and we are also going to continue to have open forum sessions where everyone can come. One of the most important facets of improv is trusting in your scene partners, so we really are looking for players that are willing to support their scene partners and produce good art. Thinking of it like a big playground is a great analogy, and playgrounds are always more fun (and way less creepy) when more people are there. 

• I know both of you are currently students at the New School. Can you tell us a little bit about any upcoming projects you may have in the hopper? 

Jeff and I are both in an upcoming production of Shakespeare’s comedy As You Like It. I am playing the role of Charles the Wrestler and Jacques, while Jeff is the studliest of studs, Orlando. It goes up May 2-4 at The New School (same place the improv show is), and tickets are free. Hope to see you there!

Join us tonight: THE MISER "Winks" @ 7pm!

Photo by Sky Seals

The FREE "Winks" reading series
continues with

The Miser 

by Moliere

Directed by Nathan Shreeve

Nathan is currently the Artistic and Producing Assistant at Soho Rep. in New York City. In his time there, he has worked on the New York premiere of Jackie Sibblies Drury's We Are Proud to Present a Presentation About the Herero of Namibia, Formerly Known as Southwest Afrika, From the German Sudwestafrika, Between the Years 1884-1915, and the U.S. premiere of Nature Theater of Oklahoma's epic Life and Times, Episodes 1-4, which played at The Public Theater as part of the Under the Radar Festival.

Photo by Sky Seals

Opening Act: Keri Waggoner 

Come enjoy the amazing vocal stylings of Keri Waggoner as she sings us the blues. Backed by a special group of friends for this one night only—this is one you'll not want to miss!

March 12, 2013

Doors open @ 6:30pm
Keri Waggoner @ 7:00pm 

THE MISER @ 7:30pm 

All performances are at The Underground Lounge
955 West End Avenue @ 107th St
New York, NY 10025

Tickets are Free, Space is Limited

THE MISER "Winks" tomorrow night @ 7pm!

The Living Theatre's Tom Walker puts on his game face.
Come see him in our staged reading tomorrow night of 

THE MISER, the latest offering in our "Winks" series!
Check out the Facebook invite here.

Photo by Sky Seals

THE MISER "Winks:" Tuesday, March 12!

The FREE "Winks" reading series continues with

The Miser 

by Moliere

Directed by Nathan Shreeve

Nathan is currently the Artistic and Producing Assistant at Soho Rep. in New York City. In his time there, he has worked on the New York premiere of Jackie Sibblies Drury's We Are Proud to Present a Presentation About the Herero of Namibia, Formerly Known as Southwest Afrika, From the German Sudwestafrika, Between the Years 1884-1915, and the U.S. premiere of Nature Theater of Oklahoma's epic Life and Times, Episodes 1-4, which played at The Public Theater as part of the Under the Radar Festival.

Opening Act: Keri Waggoner 

Come enjoy the amazing vocal stylings of Keri Waggoner as she sings us the blues. Backed by a special group of friends for this one night only—this is one you'll not want to miss!

March 12, 2013

Doors open @ 6:30pm
Keri Waggoner @ 7:00pm 

THE MISER @ 7:30pm 

All performances are at The Underground Lounge
955 West End Avenue @ 107th St
New York, NY 10025

Tickets are Free, Space is Limited

This month’s “Wink” brings insight to the inner workings of a wealthy family in Paris in the 1660s. Since their mother's death, Elise and Cleante are stuck under their father's watchful eye. With such a tight clasp on the family money that they don't even wear decent clothes, how will Cleante convince his father to let him marry a woman without a dowry? Will Elise get to marry the man of her dreams, or be stuck with the one her father thinks is best? Watch as they try to teach their father the meaning of love.

ABOUT THE "WINKS" SERIES:

Dec 11, 2012- June 4, 2013
The second Tuesday of every month! 

Wide Eyed Productions is embarking on a season of development as they explore new works, revisit the classics, and reimagine some of the best plays in the contemporary canon. This season predicates future seasons by workshopping and reading plays to excite and invigorate  theatergoers and the production company alike. Through a series of readings open to the public, Wide Eyed Productions aims to strike a chord within ourselves and the community.

This season of “Winks” is intended to develop work that will further define Wide Eyed as a company, as well as its place in the New York arts world. Every reading will give the audience a chance to have a voice on what Wide Eyed produces in its seventh season, as well as build support for the company and all of its talented members. We’ve picked our favorite contenders, and by attending and giving your feedback, you can help shape the next season at Wide Eyed.

UPCOMING:

Apr. 9 - Standard Aptitude by Sam Byron
May 14 - Proof by David Auburn
June 11 - TBD
July 9 - Reborning by Zayd Dohrn

And...

 ~ Save the Date: September 28, 2013 ~

Please join us for Wide Eyed Productions' first Gala Fundraiser!
It will be held at the beautiful Dune Studios.
Buy your tickets now at http://wideeyedproductions.eventbrite.com

First Table Read: THE MISER

Photo by Sky Seals

Join us for our FREE staged reading of The Miser on Tuesday, March 12!

Check out the Facebook event here.