Wide Eyed Productions would like to extend hearty
congratulations and a virtual high five to Animals playwright Sam Byron. nytheatre.com’s
Indie Theater Now will be publishing Byron’s Animals as part of their Best of FringeNYC 2012 Collection, which will feature 27 plays produced at FringeNYC
this year. Having seen many of these on stage over the last couple of weeks, we
know he will be in great company. Congratulations, Sam, and to all of the other
playwrights receiving this honor!
Many happy congratulations to all of theFringeNYC Overall Excellence winners, including our very own Kristin Skye Hoffmann, who received a nod for Directing on our production of ANIMALS! We are absolutely delighted. High fives, all the way around.
If, for some reason, you've missed our production of Animals at The Kraine Theater as part of the New York International Fringe Festival, you have exactly one more chance to see it. Curtain is at 7pm tonight, Thursday, August 23. There is no late seating. We'll see you at the theatre!
Sky Seals is a co-founder of Wide Eyed Productions. Company
credits: The Medea (Jason), Much Ado About Nothing (Don Pedro), Jack
and the Soy Beanstalk (Minstrel / Composer), Henry VI (Part III) (King
Edward), and Goldilocks and the Three Polar Bears (Minstrel /
Composer). Sky has also directed, stage-managed, designed, composed and
production-managed for Wide Eyed in its five seasons. Sky appeared
Off-Broadway in the Algonquin Theater’s Sessions: The Musical in the
role of Dylan for the production’s entire 14-month run, and toured with
Theaterworks’ The Mystery of King Tut last spring. Sky’s score for
Jack and the Soy Beanstalk has been published by Samuel French’s
"Bakers Plays." Sky is also exactly one-half of the acoustic
comedy duo Neil and Sky, and has scored the web series White Liars.
Currently seeking representation (and a sandwich).
Sky, you were kind
enough to interview with us during the run of A Girl Wrote It. Welcome back! You’ll be
performing in our upcoming production of Animals for the New York International Fringe Festival. Can you tell us some of your initial thoughts about the piece?
Do you feel ready to open tonight?
I remember when Kristin sent the play to the Wide
Eyed board, asking what we thought and if we should produce it. I read two
pages and wrote back that I loved it. I think it was the male chauvinism and
sexism that hooked me. Just kidding. It was the honest and poetic way Sam had
written conversations that had sickened me in the past with my redneck friends.
Characters like these really do exist, in the MILLIONS, and it's important to
hold the mirror up to this kind of nature. As far as feeling ready to
open...well, we'll find out today!
You'll be playing a pivotal character in
Animals. Can you tell us some of your thoughts on the character? What drew you
to want to play him?
As I just said, I've met this guy. Dozens of times. I've
sat silently, listening to his bullshit, mesmerized by his charm and ability to
get away with saying awful, destructive things. Just because he's a funny guy.
I've sat wanting to be a part of his energy, seduced by it, until I realized
that he's the enemy of everything that I believe in! He may not have actually
destroyed anything himself, but he's done such a great job of justifying
ignorance and hate and sexism, that he's convinced other, weaker people to do
the destroying. He's the snake in Eden.
Never at fault. And I think it's important for art to show us the enemy in no
uncertain terms, so we recognize him in life. And I like to talk about doin' it
doggystyle. :-)
As a founding member of Wide Eyed, you've appeared onstage with
the company many times, often under the direction of Kristin Skye Hoffmann. Can
you provide some insight as to how this project is different in terms of
approach?
What's wonderfully different about this production is the new blood
that has not only gotten involved, but has thrown themselves, their immense
talents, and their...ahem...youthful energy into a Wide Eyed Production (I'm a
bit older, and just trying to keep up). Kristin's new circle of friends at the NewSchool
for Drama is so fresh and exciting that I hope to work with them and see them
grow and become successful firsthand.
Our last forays into Fringe have found
you not only performing, but also composing. Can you tell us about any musical
projects you are currently working on?
Of course you're referring to Jack and
the Soy Beanstalk and Goldilocks and the Three Polar Bears - two successful
children's shows, written by Jerrod Bogard and composed by myself, that
premiered as part of Fringe Jr. Currently, Jerrod and I are working on a
full-length rock musical about soldiers in the Iraq war. A much more ambitious piece,
“Grunts” (working title) is still in the development phase. We've had two
public performances of some of the material, and found that there is a great
hunger for this brand of relevant musical theater. We're continuing to workshop
our new material in the next year, and hope to have support for a full
production very soon. I'm also about to begin work on the score for the 2nd
season of White Liars, a web series produced by Wide Eyed company members
Andrew Harriss and Neil Fennell. Check out season 1 on youtube.com!
We know you like to stay
busy. Are there any additional projects in the hopper for you that you would
care to share with us?
I'm currently working on a project that is very near and
dear to my heart. It's called NEVER HAVING TO WAIT TABLES AGAIN! Maybe you've
heard of it...
Jenna D'Angelo is thrilled
to be a part of Animals in FringeNYC. Since moving to NYC two years ago Jenna
has been working consistently in theatre and film. Theatre: As You Like It (Rosalind), Dracula (Lucy), Thrill of
the Chase (MadDog Theatre Co.), Still Jackie (Tiny Rhino), Almost, Maine (45th St.
Theatre). Film: Silent Wave (Best Actress in a Short nomination),
Madeleine Zabel (Madeleine, Cambridge Film Festival), Kin, Bruiser, Hello My
Name Is (CollegeHumor). BA: WesternMichiganUniversity. www.jennadangelo.com
You’ll
be performing in our upcoming production of Animals for the New York International Fringe Festival. Can you tell us some of your initial thoughts
about the piece and your character? How are rehearsals going?
I feel incredibly
lucky to be working with Animals again. I was part of a
workshop / reading last year as the character Lisa. This go around I am
playing Megan, which has been a blast so far because I get a chance to be in the
skin of a different character and see the play in a new light through a new
person's eyes.
When I first read the play, I loved it. It has been
great to continually work on the play and see how the characters and the story
have developed and grown. Rehearsals have been fantastic. Kristin [Hoffmann]
and Sam [Byron] are so great to work with; they play really well off of one another in
the rehearsal room. This is a unique experience because we get to work with
the director AND the playwright, which is pretty rare.
When did you know
that you wanted to be an actor? How did you get started?
I have wanted to be an
actor ever since I was a little kid. I always loved being on stage,
telling stories and making people laugh. In elementary school, I started
doing school plays and musicals, and everything sort of took off from there.
I studied Theatre Performance in undergrad at WesternMichiganUniversity
and then moved to NYC after graduating.
Who or what do you consider to have
been your biggest creative influences to date? Why?
Wow. That is a tough
question. I guess at this point in my life, two years out of undergrad, I
would probably say that my professors are still some of the people who have
influenced me and shaped the artist I am today the most. I was really
lucky to have just unbelievably talented and passionate professors who helped me to push the limits creatively and keep striving and trying – if you don't
get there today, maybe you will get there tomorrow.
What is your favorite part of the creative
process before you perform for an audience? Do you have a particular pre-show
ritual that you engage in before curtain? If so, can you share it with us?
I
love rehearsing. I love what you find when you get to put a scene up on
its feet once you are memorized, and really
find what is underneath these words that you are saying. There is
nothing more exciting than discovering a moment in a scene that you never knew
was there. In terms of pre-show ritual, it
changes from show to show. Each show you're in places different demands
on you and a different energy. For example, when I do Shakespeare, my
warm-ups tend to revolve more around vocals because you are dealing with some
really tricky language so you want to be ready for it. Other times, I'll listen
to music that helps me get in the right head space, stuff that pumps me up or
centers me, I'll do yoga. It all just depends. For this show? I'm
not 100% sure yet what will fall into place.
I believe this is your first time
working with Wide Eyed. We’d like to get to know you a little better. Could you
tell us a little bit about your last project? Is there something cool that you
like to do in your spare time?
My last project was a short film called Kin about a brother and sister who haven't spoken in years and are
forced together by the death of their father. The project was wonderful and
incredibly challenging– the sister is bi-polar and incredibly reclusive, and I
had a great time working to figure her out.
Cool things in my spare time?
I just bought a bike! And a really goofy helmet! So now I ride my
bike around in my spare time....is that cool? Oh! And I just hiked the
Inca Trail in Peru
last month. That's counts as cool.
Are you working on any additional projects at the moment? Care to share with
us?
I am in a web series called The Fastest that starts filming
right around when Animals opens, so I'll be shooting that on my off days.
I play this badass girl-next-door, so that will be fun. I get to use a knife to
protect myself from a bad guy. You can check out some info at http://thefastestseries.tumblr.com/. And I have to finish up some ADR stuff for a film I shot a few months
ago called Bruiser with director Mattson Tomlin, who is one of the
most talented guys I know. And then it's time to get back in the saddle again
and hit the ground running auditioning.
Sarah
JadinNew York
theater: Edward, My Son, The Late George Apley, The Actor’s Company
Theatre; As You Like It, The Midtown Theater Festival. Regional theater:
Alice vs. Wonderland, The Donkey Show, American Repertory Theater. London
theater: A Winter’s Tale, Much Ado About Nothing, Romeo and
Juliet, The Way of the World, The London Academy of Music and Dramatic
Arts. MFA in Acting from The ART/MXAT Institute at Harvard University. www.sarahjadin.com
You’ll
be performing in our upcoming production of Animals for the New York International Fringe Festival. Can you tell us some of your initial thoughts
about the piece and your character? How are rehearsals going?
I’m really
enjoying working on Animals; Sam [Byron] and Kristin [Hoffmann] are doing such
a lovely job with the show, and the cast has proven to be incredibly talented.
When did you know that you wanted to be an actor? How did you get started?
I’ve
always wanted to be an actor, with the exception of a brief infatuation with
Marine Biology in second grade; every girl goes through a dolphin phase, right? So after I lost interest in dolphins, I started acting at Stages Theater
Company in my hometown of Minneapolis, and have been ever since.
Who or what
do you consider to have been your biggest creative influences to date? Why?
My
biggest creative influences have been my professors and classmates at the ART
Institute at Harvard, which is where I went to graduate school for my MFA in acting. Grad
school is a fabulous incubator, and Scott Zigler, Marcus Stern, and Nancy Houfek
are just brilliant teachers.
What is your favorite part of the creative process
before you perform for an audience? Do you have a particular pre-show ritual
that you engage in before curtain? If so, can you share it with us?
Every show
is different, but I almost always really love the rehearsal process, by that I
mean the time spent in the room with my scene partners and the director.
I
believe this is your first time working with Wide Eyed. We’d like to get to
know you a little better. Could you tell us a little bit about your last
project? Is there something cool that you like to do in your spare time?
My
last play was my final show at ART, which was a devised piece inspired by the
human voice and directed by John Tiffany.
My last “project” was a hair show for the stylist Oribe. I had to wear a
huge green wig and matching leotard; it was amazing!
Catherine DiGirolamo A graduate of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), Cate is a Production Manager and Lighting/Scenic Designer who has worked for Gate Theatre Notting Hill, Royal Court Theatre, Almeida Theatre, Hightide Festival Theatre, and Sadler’s Wells Theatre in London, and more recently CAP21 in New York. She is currently the Production Manager for UglyRhino Productions.
You’ll be designing both lights and set for our upcoming production of Animals for the New York International Fringe Festival. Can you tell us some of your initial thoughts about the piece?
What was great about the first table read was getting an idea how fast paced and intense a lot of the play is. It poses a lot of interesting moral questions, bit is also quite funny. These characters and the situations they deal with are very real. Because of that, the set needed to be something that could function for the action but not take anything away from, or interfere with, what is happening in the story.
Due to the nature of Fringe (multiple plays performing in a single theatre; a fast turn around time between each production; etc.), there are some constraints in terms of what a designer can accomplish with lights and set. How do you like to approach challenges such as these?
I try not to think about it at first and focus on what I want to achieve creatively and what the play requires. Once I have a clear concept, it’s just a matter of making it work within the constraints, which is equally challenging and fun. There are several locations and transitions in the play, so the design already had to be versatile and easy to transition. Lighting will play a larger role in the overall design, though I won’t get a chance to really see what lighting is available before tech. That is the biggest challenge. It’s important to go in with clear ideas and several options for how to accomplish them.
When did you know that you wanted to be a designer? Who or what do you consider to have been your biggest creative influences to date? Why?
I’ve had the pleasure of working with, and being close friends with, many talented designers, directors, actors, filmmakers, and artists who have all been great influences. I have also worked on many different projects in a variety of roles and just like being involved in the process in any way. I can’t say for sure when I decided that I wanted to design, but I trained in London and that was the first time I felt that it was something I could pursue.
What is your favorite part of the creative process?
I don’t know that I really have a favorite part. Each project is so unique. I love seeing the progression from the first read through to the stage. Working on Animals, in particular, has been great being able to sit in rehearsals and work closely with the director and playwright, and see how the actors take on these roles. I guess the most fun really comes at tech and seeing everything come together in the space. And I love playing around with lights.
Are you working on any additional projects at the moment? Care to share with us?
I production manage for UglyRhino Productions in Brooklyn. We’re currently working on our Micro-Season, opening mid-August, which features two new musical plays, parties, and live bands. One play is an adaptation of Kate Chopin’s The Awakening, which I’m also lighting, and the other play is a rock concert/theatrical experience called Glamdromeda. See uglyrhinonyc.com for more information.
