Jenna D'Angelo is an actor, producer and yoga instructor based in NYC. She is a co-founder of Mastodon Theatre Company as well as a guest artist with Wide Eyed Productions. She has appeared in many films, webseries, and plays around the city. She is currently starring, co-producing, and writing for the upcoming digital series Bar Crossed Lovers premiering in May! Credits include: How Alfo Learned to Love (59E59), Elemeno Pea (Mastodon), Animals (FringeNYC), Leah in Vegas (FringeNYC), The Wedding Guest (reading: Moisés Kaufman), The Perfect Murder (Discovery ID), Madeleine Zabel (Cambridge Film Festival), Silent Wave (Best Supporting Actress in a Short nomination), Vlogger (Take Two Festival), Bruiser (Intendance Film Festival), Kin (Nitehawk Film Festival). Jenna received her BA from Western Michigan University. www.jennadangelo.com
You’ll be performing in the world premiere production of Keep, which we are co-producing with Mastodon Theatre Company. How was the rehearsal process? Can you tell us a little bit about the character you’ll be playing, and your favorite thing about this role? (No spoilers!)
It was a really fascinating rehearsal process, in large part because the show takes place in a hoarders house (which in and of itself almost acts as a fifth character in the play), so the room is filled with all different kinds of things. In the rehearsal room, we didn't have the luxury of having a lot of stuff to interact with, so we had to experiment a lot with miming and working to build this world in large part with in our minds. I think I speak for everyone when I say we couldn't WAIT to load in and have a fully packed living room to play with!
I'm playing Kara, one of the sisters who come to help stage the intervention. I love playing Kara—on the outside she is really tough and sarcastic and always feels like she is in charge, but underneath it all she is really battling with a lot of her own issues and fears. I love that dichotomy between her interior and exterior life.
This is a play that deals with – among other things – hoarding belongings. What’s one thing that you really should release from your own personal stash of objects?
Hah! Ummm, ALL OF MY CLOTHES. I read The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up last summer, and as I read it I felt really inspired and I started to get rid of some things...but I have a LONG way to go. My closet is filled with clothing that I barely touch, but I always think, “but I COULD wear this!” or “it MIGHT come back into style!” I need to just bite the bullet and get rid of things.
When did you know that you wanted to be an actor? How did you get started?
I've wanted to be an actor ever since I was a little kid. I always loved to perform for people and make people laugh. I always watched a lot of movies and musicals—I had a phase where I came home from school every day and watched Annie and sang along to all the songs. I did school plays and musicals in elementary school and never stopped.
Who or what do you consider to have been your biggest creative influences to date?
Oh wow. That's a really hard question! I guess I would have to say the other artists around me. I find a lot of inspiration from the actors / writers / directors / producers who I work with or who I see work. Reading plays, seeing shows, watching movies and TV shows, going to museums—all of those inspire me to create more, do more, push myself more.
We’d love for our audience to get to know your work a little more. Could you tell us a little bit about your last project?
I just did my first Off-Broadway show at 59E59 over the holidays this past year - How Alfo Learned To Love - and had a really amazing time. The entire team across the board was phenomenal. The cast had a really incredible bond and I felt very blessed to be a part of the production. Plus I got to play a really sassy, loud-mouthed Brooklynite, so you can't beat that.
Are you working on any additional projects at the moment? Is it something you can tell us about?
A few things! Mastodon is producing a night of Pint Size Plays at The Barrow Group on April 25th which will be a great time. I wrote a piece, will be acting, and may also be directing a piece.
And Bar Crossed Lovers, the digital series that Wide Eyed Productions and StagNation Productions are co-producing, will premiere in May! I'm starring in it, working as a co-producer, and wrote a couple of episodes, as well. We are so proud of this series, and I think it is going to be a ton of fun.
Outside of the arts, I started teaching yoga this year after getting my certification this winter, and it is has been such a fun transition to make! If anybody reading this in NYC wants to try out yoga or just chat, please check out my website (www.jennadangeloyoga.com).
Keep begins previews at The Barrow Group Theatre on April 7 and runs through April 30. Get your tickets here. Bar Crossed Lovers Episode 1 premieres on May 11. Stay tuned!
Madison Comerzan is a co-founder of Mastodon Theatre Company. She hails from Detroit, Michigan, and has been living in New York for over four years where she works as an actor and a Pilates instructor. She received her B.A. in Theatre and Dance from Western Michigan University. She also completed the two year acting program at William Esper Studio studying under Bill Esper. Previous credits include: MICHAELA in Mastodon's Elemeno Pea, ADDISON in Nylon Fusion Collective's Miss Hope's, FELICE in After the Fall with Variations Theatre Group, KELLY in Love and the Small Print (2012 Cannes Film Festival), and appearances on ABC's What Would You Do. She also held the title of producer for Mastodon's production of Molly Smith Metzler's play Elemeno Pea. www.madisoncomerzan.com
You’ll be performing in the world premiere production of Keep, which we are co-producing with Mastodon Theatre Company. How are rehearsals going? Can you tell us a little bit about the character you’ll be playing, and your favorite thing about this role? (No spoilers!)
Rehearsals have been tough. The set is such a huge part of this play and we wont be able to play on the set until tech week. However, it has been so fun making up a hoader's space with rehearsal props every night. I feel like a little kid again.
I will be playing Jane. She is a bit neurotic and a little confused about her own identity. She has a big heart though and loves loving others.
My favorite part about becoming Jane has been mastering her physicality. I think Jane is an "emu" and I have been working on embodying an emu for this character. Weird, I know...I am an actor.
When did you know that you wanted to be an actor? How did you get started?
I honestly have no idea when I knew that I wanted to be an actor. I think I just always have. My mom says that when I was little, people would ask me what I wanted to me when I grew up and my answer was, "Well, do you want to know what my parents want me to be when I grow up or do you want to know what I want to be when I grow up?" My answer was always "Actor." My grandmother got me started in actual theatre classes when I was about 10 years old. My grandmother has always supported my creative endeavors. I am so thankful for her.
This is a play that deals with – among other things – hoarding belongings. What’s one thing that you really should release from your own personal stash of objects?
I am more of a purger than a hoarder so I don't hang on to much. However, I won't let my mom throw out any of my old stuffed animal from childhood. I am not sure why...I feel their little button eyes looking at me like, "Please don't throw us out Madison, we love you." I just can't bear to get rid of them even though they take up space.
Who or what do you consider to have been your biggest creative influences to date?
I grew up watching Lucille Ball on I Love Lucy. She is one of my biggest idols. Her physical work is amazing as well as her personal story. I also love everyone on SNL. My dream is to be on that show one day!
We’d love for our audience to get to know your work a little more. Could you tell us a little bit about your last project?
My work with Mastodon has forced me to delve into the world of writing and producing. I wrote a seven-page script for one of our Pint Size Plays back in the summer of 2015, and a short screenplay for StagNation / Wide Eyed Productions' upcoming web series Bar Crossed Lovers. Seeing something that I wrote performed was magical. I loved it and am really trying to make writing a bigger part of me life.
Are you working on any additional projects at the moment? Is it something you can tell us about?
I am currently choreographing a dance piece for Mastodon's Evening of Pint Size Plays on 4/25. This yet to be titled dance piece will be featuring Katy Copeland and Becca Shulman. Rehearsals are scheduled to start on 4/8. I am nervous but so excited to create feeling through movement with my dancers. Dance has always been a big part of my life and as I get older, I have realized that I communicate best through movement. It is so exciting to know that there is a whole other creative world out there for me to explore. If you're reading this and you're free the evening of 4/25, come see "Untitled" at Mastodon's Evening of Pint Size Plays at The Barrow Group Theatre at 7pm!
Keep begins previews at The Barrow Group Theatre on April 7 and runs through April 30. Get your tickets here. Bar Crossed Lovers Episode 1 premieres on May 11. Stay tuned!
Leslie Marseglia is proud to be a guest artist with Wide Eyed. She graduated with
an MFA in Acting from The New School for Drama, where favorite roles
include Rosalind in As You Like It and Beth in the old forever new things.
Other roles include: Mrs. Baines, Major Barbara (Brave New World Rep);
Brenda, Leah in Vegas (Fringe NYC); and Miss Jessel, Turn of the
Screw (Everyday Inferno). Leslie also holds a BFA from NYU, Tisch
School of the Arts. www.lesliemarseglia.com
You’ll be performing in the upcoming world-premiere production of Keep, which we are co-producing with Mastodon Theatre Company. Can you tell us a little bit about the character
you’ll be playing, and your favorite thing about this role? (No spoilers!)
I’m playing Margo, the third of four sisters. While I
don’t have any sisters of my own, I think it is really interesting to explore the
complexities of female relationships and the way loyalties shift by the minute. I
also like that Margo is outwardly much more unapologetic than I am; I hope to
push myself a little further down that path.
This is a play that deals with – among other things – hoarding belongings.
What’s one thing that you really should release from your own personal
stash of objects?
I probably hang on to clothes I don’t love, wearing them longer than I should...I’m
always convinced my opinion might change...it usually doesn’t. :)
When did you know that you wanted to be an actor? How did you get
started?
I’ve really wanted to act since I saw The Sound of Music in second grade; I really
wanted to be Julie Andrews. Luckily, I learned that you don’t have to be able to
sing well to be an actor (though it’s still a skill I wish I had!).
Who or what do you consider to have been your biggest creative influences
to date?
I’ve been so, so lucky to have studied with so many wonderful teachers, during
both my undergrad and graduate training, and I think I’ve really pulled a little
something from all of them. I’ve also been blessed with opportunities to work with
actors and directors, both in and out of school, who have created a safe
environment to explore. I feel like an open, supportive room is key. Otherwise, I
feel my biggest lesson always comes down to be specific and take the risk to
really be myself. Wow, that sounds super cheesy...
We’d love for our audience to get to know your work a little more. Could
you tell us a little bit about your last project?
The last stage project I worked on was called The Basement Plays, co-produced
by The Barrow Group and Anthropological Theatricals. In this piece I actually was
part of an ensemble of clowns (we appeared on stage in nose). It was a really
interesting experiment for me to combine the theatrical clown work I’d
experienced in a class setting with the necessary recreation/repetition required in
performance.
Are you working on any additional projects at the moment? Is it something
you can tell us about?
I recently shot a small part in two different student films, which are both currently
being edited. I’ll also be participating in Writopia Lab’s World Wide Plays festival
in May, which showcases the work of playwrights from ages 8-18.
Keep begins previews at The Barrow Group Theatre on April 7 and runs through April 30. Get your tickets here.
Kim Krane is a co-founder of Mastodon Theatre Company, a production company dedicated to fostering the work of emerging artists. With Mastodon, she recently produced Pint Size Plays, an evening that included nine new works with a company of 22 writers, directors and actors. NY credits include: Emily Weldon in Butcher (Harold Clurman Lab Theatre), Simone in Elemeno Pea (Access Theatre), The Lost Girl in The Mirror Show (NY Fringe) and Karin in Die Kleinen (Access Theatre). She works for New York Shakespeare Exchange with ShakesBEER as an actor, director and producer, and has performed such roles as Juliet, Ophelia, Beatrice, Helena and more during her time with them. She has performed with Amios’ Shotz at the Kraine Theatre and Off-Broadway on Theatre Row as part of Athena Writes with Athena Theatre. Favorite regional credits include: Virginia Galilei in The Life of Galileo (Cleveland Play House), Anna in A Bright New Boise (DOBAMA Theatre) and Alice in Closer (Knockabout Theatre). Kim is a graduate of the Case Western Reserve/Cleveland Play House MFA Acting program. www.kimkrane.com
You’ll be performing in the upcoming world-premiere production of Keep, which we are co-producing with Mastodon Theatre Company. How are rehearsals going? Can you tell us a little bit about the character you’ll be playing, and your favorite thing about this role? (No spoilers!)
Naomi is the youngest sister and she's a hoarder, though I don't think she would call herself that. She’s very different from me, so finding a way into understanding how she operates has been incredibly challenging. It's one of those roles that stretches your understanding of humanity. She's unique, smart and feels misunderstood.
Rehearsals have been great! To me, the set is the fifth character of the play and we've been only imagining it so far, so I cannot wait to get on the stage and really discover Naomi's space.
This is a play that deals with – among other things – hoarding belongings. What’s one thing that you really should release from your own personal stash of objects?
Clothes! I have too many. I'm always waiting for them to come back in style. Also, sentimental possessions like old programs, ticket stubs, things that remind me of people I love or a great time. I recently watched one of my best friends originate a role on Broadway and couldn't bring myself to throw away the ticket as I was cleaning my room, just today. And there's more where that comes from. Old scripts, sides...I have so many. Once this show closes, I'm going to do a major purge!
When did you know that you wanted to be an actor? How did you get started?
Kalamazoo has a large community theater scene that really fosters their young artists. I went through a stretch going into my senior year of consistently being in shows and when it came to an end and the next show wasn't on the horizon I was devastated. I realized then that if something fulfilled me that much, it was worth pursuing, against the odds.
Who or what do you consider to have been your biggest creative influences to date?
So many. Everyone I meet, what I read, what I see, my friends, my family. I have had so many amazing teachers along the way. Mark Liermann was my directing professor at Western Michigan University and his passion for story telling is so effusive. He has an ability to make you feel like what we are doing has the capacity to change the world. It was actually talking about his class that was the first time Jenna, Madison (the co-founders of Mastodon, also performing in Keep) and I talked about producing our own work.
Ross Williams is the artistic director and founder of New York Shakespeare Exchange and he was incredibly helpful when we started Mastodon and continues to be a huge support. Sarah Nedwek started a company called Partly Cloudy People, and early in my time living here I saw a production she had produced and starred in and the work was so high caliber. I couldn't believe what she had put up in New York City. It seemed impossible. These examples of people generating work (and their are many more) helped inspire the creation of Mastodon.
We’d love for our audience to get to know your work a little more. Could you tell us a little bit about your last project?
Recently I went to Bryan, Texas with New York Shakespeare Exchange to perform with ShakesBEER, NYC's original Shakespearean pub crawl. I have been producing and performing with ShakesBEER for the past two years, it's very close to my heart, so it was wonderful to share it with a different part of the country! I also recently filmed Sonnet 110 for The Sonnet Project, another facet of New York Shakespeare Exchange.
I also regularly perform with Amios' Shotz, which is a monthly pressure cooker that presents six new shorts plays the first Monday of every month at The Kraine Theater. Recently they expanded four of the short pieces from Shotz and a different one each Monday of March. I was lucky enough to be in "The Loneliest Number" by Lizzie Vieh under the direction of Maria Dizzia. It was one of those 'pinch me' moments. (I'm a huge, huge Sarah Ruhl fan.)
Are you working on any additional projects at the moment? Is it something you can tell us about?
Besides Shotz and ShakesBEER nothing is currently on the horizon, my focus has been on this role! Once we get Keep up and running, we will have to decide what Mastodon's next move is. We've got a couple ideas we're tossing around, but nothing is finalized. Once we know, we'll share it with you all. Stay tuned!
Keep begins previews at The Barrow Group Theatre on April 7 and runs through April 30. Get your tickets here.
Stephanie C. Cunningham received her MFA in Directing from The New School for Drama. As a director, her work focuses on text with heightened language, the re-imagining of classical texts, and the development of new work. As an educator and director of youth programs, she promotes theatre education that can extend beyond production to become an accessible art form and tool for change in a community. She is based in New York City. www.stephanieccunningham.com
You are directing the world-premiere production of Keep, which we are co-producing with Mastodon Theatre Company. What drew you to want to direct this particular play?
This play drew me in hard and fast for a few reasons. When I first read it, I was fascinated and could not imagine the challenges and emotional taxation on the victims and the families of someone with a hoarding disorder. Since researching the condition and interviewing hoarders, my empathy for people with this condition has exploded. The second thing that attracted me was the poetry of Francesca Pazniokas' text, especially toward the end. It is beautiful and so rhythmic. It actually got stuck in my head at one point, worse than a Spice Girl’s song. Third: the characters - these women - are just human. Their gender is not the reason for their existence in a work of art, and that always makes this feminist director a very happy camper.
How are rehearsals going? Can you tell us a little bit about how you’ve chosen to approach the process? Has it been similar or different to other pieces you have recently worked upon?
Rehearsals for this piece have been quite a challenge in a great way. The space of Naomi’s home is such an important character, and so hard to get a sense of when in an almost blank rehearsal room. Trying to understand the space - and how all of the women interact with it differently - has been an act of imagination gymnastics for the cast and myself to this point, but it has been really fun. My instincts as a director tend towards simplifying action and streamlining storytelling. In this production, those things are not one and the same. The more interactions these characters have with the space, the clearer their stories become. For instance, we had our first rehearsal with pizza yesterday, and let me tell you…that was a wonderful mess that was clarifying for everyone, I think.
In addition to being the director for this production, you are Wide Eyed’s Associate Artistic Director and recently received your MFA in Directing from The New School. When did you know that you wanted to be a director? How did you get started?
I wanted to be an actor first but...I was real bad. I couldn’t keep my thoughts on one place or intention. I was thinking about everything; the lights, stage movement, the scene I had just left, what was coming up next. I did not have the skill to stay present and truthful in the moment.
Luckily, I had some wonderful teachers who not only told me I was a bad actor, but that I might be a good director. When I got home from my classical actor training in London, I dove right into directing, starting with community theatre and teaching high school drama. From there, it was just moving to bigger places - Boston and New York - and finding people that I knew I wanted to make theatre with.
Where are you drawing some of your creative energy currently?
If you had asked me this yesterday, I probably would have given a different answer. Right now, I am totally obsessed with the Roman republic and how it mirrors the formation of our own government. My husband is an English teacher, and his students are currently working on Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar. He and I have been talking a great deal about the Roman understanding of power and how that may or may not relate to the current hearts and minds of the American people. It’s hard not to sense the tension this year with elections and looking at what people perceive as “greatness.”
Also, iced tea. I get a lot of energy from that stuff.
We’d love for our audience to get to know your work a little more. Could you tell us a little bit about your last project?
The last full production I directed was Sam Byron’s Butcher (coincidentally, a finalist year before last in our Wide Eyed WINKS staged reading series) at Stella Adler Studios. It was a beast. We had this giant Greek tragedy of a play in this tiny room. It was gory and raw and intense all the way through. It was a wonderful process, and was very fruitful for me in terms of working a naturalistic style that I had not been exercising recently. It also made it so I couldn’t eat meat for a little while...
Are you working on any additional projects at the moment? Is it something you can tell us about?
Once Keep is up and running, I’m set to direct a production of Buyer and Cellar in California with The Mendocino Theatre Company this summer, and will be working on a few development readings and workshops here in the city. It will also be finals time at The New School soon, which means you will most likely find me in my living room trying to shoo my cats off of assignments I need to grade.
Keep begins previews at The Barrow Group Theatre on April 7 and runs through April 30. Get your tickets here.
Francesca Pazniokas is an NYC-based writer and musician whose work has been performed in New York, London and Chicago. Her short play Goodnight was a Heideman Award Finalist at the Actors Theatre of Louisville this past winter. Francesca received her Master’s in Playwriting from Royal Holloway, where this play was originally workshopped. Keep is her first play.
We and Mastodon Theatre Company are so very excited to be co-producing the world-premiere of your play Keep. Can you give us a bit of a synopsis of the play and provide some insight in terms of what inspired it?
I’m excited, too! Thank you for fostering new work, and for taking a chance on me and my first full-length play.
Keep is about a hoarder and her sisters, who are trying to clean her house and reconnect in the wake of losing another sibling. I wanted to explore how we decide what (and who) has value in our lives, and how we determine our own worth.
This play isn’t autobiographical, but it is deeply personal. I had a couple bumpy years where I struggled with hoarding, among other things. My grandmother died a few weeks before I started writing Keep, and while I didn’t begin hoarding again, I worried I would. In the past, losing such a huge support in my life would have created a vacuum that self-destructive behaviors might fill. Writing Keep helped me process those past experiences I’d tried to forget—to remind myself I shouldn’t romanticize or demonize the person I was then, and am now. Ultimately, Keep is about loyalty and loss, which I think everyone can relate to. But I also hope Keep speaks to people who have struggled with addiction, and those who may have felt hurt and helpless to support their loved ones.
When did you know that you wanted to be a writer? What made you start writing plays?
I started writing plays fairly recently, actually. After college, I was working as an actor, which really didn’t suit me. I liked sitting at home, amusing myself by rewriting all my lines so they sounded like words people would actually say, more than I liked standing on stage performing. So I decided to get my MFA in acting—because if you don’t enjoy something you should definitely spend more time doing it. During a grad school callback, I was asked what my dream (acting) role would be. And I said, without thinking: “a writer.” The head of the program was horrified, but I was even more horrified. I’d never actually written a play before. I had no idea if I could do it. Luckily I’ve trained myself to listen to any embarrassing public life realizations I might have. And so here I am two years later, writing.
Who or what has been your biggest influence as a writer? What inspires you to get to the page?
I was fortunate in a lot of ways to have a solitary childhood where I could soak up artistic influences like a sponge. The time other kids were spending with each other I would spend reading books, watching movies, listening to music, lurking around the local library—the typical perks of being an odd kid in a tiny town. When I finally started writing, I had a clear sense of my own artistic taste and point of view, which gave me a solid foundation to build from.
That being said—often I write to discover how I feel about something. I’m an opinionated person, but I find it difficult to express or identify my emotions. I get overwhelmed. It’s like there are dozens of songs playing at once, just a wall of sound, and I can’t pick out the words. With Keep, what ‘got me to the page’ on difficult days was my desire to discover how I felt about hoarding, my struggle to hide it, and the impact it had on my loved ones.
In terms of your creative process, do you have a particular ritual when it comes to writing? If so, can you share it with us?
My creative process is a powerful mystery known only to a few, but I’ll reveal the secret to you now. 1. Sit down to write, followed immediately by 2. Call my sister and whine about how I can’t concentrate. Honestly, it’s a constant battle to focus, especially when no one else is dictating your deadlines. But I’ve found that a combination of ambient noise, caffeine, and the great yawning terror that you’ll never produce any work again usually does the trick.
Can you tell us about any additional projects you are working on right now?
Thanks for asking! I’m currently working on a horror show collaboration with Insomnium Theatre Company, and I just found out my short play Everlast will be produced at DC’s Source Festival this summer. I’m also in the process of finishing up another full-length play, which is written using only found/verbatim text surrounding a murder trial from the 1910s that has fascinated me for years.
Keep begins previews at The Barrow Group Theatre on April 7 and runs through April 30. Get your tickets here.
J Alexander Diaz is a sound artist originally from Colorado and now based out of Brooklyn, NY. His work encompasses sound for theatre, dance, and the concert stage. In the past year, J has collaborated with theatre and dance companies in Colorado, Indiana, New York City, and Ghana, Africa. Currently, J is working with the Accra Theatre Workshop on a new musical, several dance pieces and sound installations. Recent projects in NYC include working with the RadioTheatre, the Stella Adler Studio of Acting, Wide Eyed Productions, and volunteering with the 52nd Street Project. J received a Bachelor of Musical Arts in piano from DePauw University in 2013. There he studied with Dr. May Phang. His composition mentors have been Dr. Scott Perkins (Assistant Professor of Music Composition and Theory, DePauw), Veronica Pejril (Instructor of Music Technology, DePauw), and Dr. Harry Bulow (Head of the College of Liberal Arts at Purdue University). J will start his graduate work at the Vermont College of Fine Arts in February of 2015. He will work towards a Master of Fine Arts in music composition.
[J just came on as Wide Eyed's Resident Sound Designer. We are so excited to have him as part of our team! - ed.]
- You designed the (extensive!) sound for our recent production of Dead Special Crabs. Can you tell us a little bit about that process, and your Wide Eyed experience?
The process for Dead Special Crabs began with design conversations with the director, Kristin Skye Hoffmann. I had imagined the design circling around the radio drama genre where music is melodramatic – creating shadows of suspense. Similarly, Kristin had been hearing underscoring for Dead Special Crabs from the film noir world. With this in mind, I set upon creating sound effects and original music to support our vision. This involved creating improvisations that I then took to rehearsals, and heard how they either helped or deterred a scene. My experience was more than wonderful. I find the Wide Eyed team open to new ideas and experimentation, which, after all, is what great art needs.
- When did you know that you wanted to be a sound designer? How did you get started?
My first sound design was as a sophomore at DePauw University. My friend Ed told a director that he knew a composer who would write music for a play. Lo and behold, I ended up writing several string quartet pieces and directing the quartet live in the performances. However, I did not know that sound design for theatre could be a career path until my last year at DePauw. It was then that I designed the music for Mysteries…And Smaller Pieces by the Living Theatre Company and decided that I wanted to write music in theatre for a living.
- Are you working on any additional projects at the moment? Care to share with us?
Currently, I’m working on several dance pieces and a musical with the Accra Theatre Workshop in Ghana, Africa. I’m finishing up my own piano sonata inspired by the NYC soundscape and beginning a rock/EDM opera. Within a month’s time, I’ll also be volunteering with the 52nd Street Project. Other than that I am binge watching the show Parks and Recreation.
Amy Lee Pearsall is a long-time member of Wide Eyed Productions, having appeared with the company in The Trojan Women, One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest, and their inaugural production of The Medea, among others. She was named as one of Indie Theater Now’s People of the Year for 2013. NYC stage credits include: Picture Ourselves in Latvia (New Light Theater Project); King Kirby (Comic Book Theater Festival/The Brick); Lickspittles, Buttonholers, and Damned Pernicious Go-Betweens (Boomerang Theatre Company); Blast Radius (The Honeycomb Trilogy) (Gideon Productions). A member of AEA, SAG-AFTRA, and the League of Professional Theatre Women, Amy Lee has served as a member of the nytheater now (née nytheatre.com) reviewing squad since 2010. www.amyleepearsall.com
- You’ll be performing in our upcoming world premiere production of Dead Special Crabs. What was your history with the piece before coming on board for the full production (if any)?
Wide Eyed Productions produced a staged reading of Dead Special Crabs during our WINKS staged reading series, season one. It was a real crowd pleaser. In that incarnation, I read the part of Aunt Missy, and had a great time with it. And the company just fell in love with Dan's play; it is so ridiculously funny. This time around, I’m playing Kathy - a different experience, but equally delightful.
- How are rehearsals going? Can you tell us a little bit about the character you’ll be playing in Dead Special Crabs, and your favorite thing about this role? (No spoilers!)
Rehearsals have been a hoot. (Yeah, I said it.) It’s a fantastic cast and creative team - just a great group of people - and I’m delighted to be a part of it. I mean, really, just look at this photo. Those are not the faces of abject misery. We are clearly having a good time.
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| photo by Al Foote III |
As for what I can tell you about Kathy…she’s a religious cult leader with a complicated past, and maybe some rage issues. But I think she operates from a place of deep conviction, and believes that her actions are for the greater good.
- This is a road trip play, and the leaves are starting to change, so we have to ask: What’s your favorite place to go for a quick road trip getaway on the east coast?
For a complete change of scene a little over an hour from the city, I'm going to have to go with Cold Spring. You can drive up historic Route 9D, but for the car impaired, Metro-North also takes you right there. I lived there for a year. It was lovely; the commute every day just wore me down after a while. But when the leaves are changing, the fog's rolling on the Hudson in the morning, the hum of passing boats and trains are bouncing around Crow's Nest and Storm King mountains across the way, and you've got a mug of coffee in your hands and a date with a kayak, it's just kind of magical.
- What’s your favorite work by Edgar Allen Poe? You know you have one.
I’m rolling with “The Raven.”
- And while we’re on the subject: Crustaceans. Friend or food? Allergies? Assuming you eat them, which is your favorite one to eat? Any restaurants we need to know about?
I’m kind of a big fan of anything that comes out of the ocean looking like an armored car; it's usually protecting something delicious. In the city, I’m partial to Grand Central’s Oyster Bar, Cull and Pistol at Chelsea Market, and Lobster Place right next door.
- Are you working on any additional projects at the moment? Is it something you can tell us about?
There is some talk of Boomerang Theatre Company reprising Johnna Adams’ verse play Lickspittles, Buttonholers, and Damned Pernicious Go-Betweens next year, and I'm excited about that. There’s also a film project that I’m super stoked about, but I can’t talk about it quite yet (details soon, I promise – keep an eye on my website). Other than that, my fellow Wide Eyed company member and buddy Andrew Harriss has informed me that I’m bringing brussels sprouts to potluck Thanksgiving. So I guess that’s my next big thing.
Greg Carere is a New York-based, Canadian-born actor and writer. New York credits include: The Downtown Loop (3LD), If You Can Get To Buffalo (Incubator Arts Project), The Party Play (The Brick), The Grass is Greenest at the Houston Astrodome (FringeNYC), King John (The New Ensemble Workshop). Regional credits: Merchant of Venice, Pericles, The Adventures of Robin Hood, Twelfth Night (Shakespeare by the Sea), Rudy vs the World (OLS). He holds an MFA from The New School for Drama. Love to his family, friends, and Rose.
- You’ll be performing in our upcoming world premiere production of Dead Special Crabs. What was your history with the piece before coming on board for the full production (if any)? Could you tell us a little bit about your last project?
I didn’t really have a history with Dead Special Crabs before I auditioned, but I’ve been friends with and a fan of both Dan Kitrosser and Kristin Skye Hoffmann for the past few years since they showed up at The New School for Drama. I’ve helped out a little with Wide Eyed WINKS, from whence Dead Special Crabs had an early reading, and I was really excited to have a chance to work with Dan and Kristin and the company.
My last project was with Fringe NYC and Outside/Inside: The Grass is Greenest at the Houston Astrodome, by Michael Ross Albert (who, actually, now that I think about it, also has a bit of a history with Wide Eyed). It’s a tight little dramatic comedy about a group of artists in the aftermath of a gala, in which one of the artists had a psychotic break and destroyed almost every piece in the show. I played Marshall, a painter who’s trying to find his identity in the wake of his father’s death, and whose work was the catalyst for the aforementioned psychotic break.
I mentioned it was a comedy, yes?
- How are rehearsals going? Can you tell us a little bit about the character you’ll be playing in Dead Special Crabs, and your favorite thing about this role? (No spoilers!)
Rehearsals are going terribly! Kristin is a tyrant! Dan is a talentless hack! The rest of the cast are all hideous trolls who wouldn’t know acting if it walked up and stabbed them in the gut! My character, Virgil, is a depressed misanthrope and I can’t seem to break character! My favorite thing about this role is NOTHING! NOTHING MATTERS!
- This is a road trip play, and the leaves are starting to change, so we have to ask: What’s your favorite place to go for a quick road trip getaway on the east coast?
I don’t get to take quick road trips all that often, but I was just on Bear Mountain to watch two of my very good friends get married, and so if I was going to recommend anything, I’d say go watch two very good friends get married on Bear Mountain in the fall.
- What’s your favorite work by Edgar Allen Poe? You know you have one.
It’s probably a little cliche, but it’s hard to deny “The Tell-Tale Heart”. It so perfectly captures madness and obsession and guilt, and the sequence where the narrator creeps into the old man’s room and opens the shutter of his lantern to have the beam fall on the eye (the eye!) has stuck with me since I was a kid. But, in some ways, I think “The Cask of Amontillado” captures a lot of the horror and obsession of “The Tell-Tale Heart” in a tighter, more efficient story.
- And while we’re on the subject: Crustaceans. Friend or food? Allergies? Assuming you eat them, which is your favorite one to eat? Any restaurants we need to know about?
Friend AND foe! My favorite one to eat is ALL OF THEM AT THE SAME TIME, but if I had to choose, I would probably say lobster. And, speaking of which, the Red Hook Lobster Pound (which has locations in Red Hook, on the LES, and at Smorgasburg) does just about the best lobster roll I’ve ever had.
- When did you know that you wanted to be an actor? How did you get started?
I don’t know if I really knew that I wanted to be an actor until somewhere near the end of my time at grad school, where I was getting an MFA in Acting. It wouldn’t be exactly fair to say I fell into it, but it was certainly something that kept pulling at me despite my best efforts to ignore it. I got “started” when I took a drama class in high school, because I needed an arts credit and thought it would be a bird course. And then I ended up majoring in theater in college, despite enrolling in a university without knowing they even offered theater. And then, after I graduated, I spent a lot of time trying to be a freelance writer and working as an administrative assistant in a government office before finally applying to grad schools, primarily as a playwright. Even The New School for Drama, where I ended up going to study acting, I had originally applied to as a playwright. Acting hunted me down, and I don’t know if I really gave in until just a few years ago, and at that point I’d been doing it on and off for 10 years.
- Who or what do you consider to have been your biggest creative influences to date? Why?
I’d say the people I met while at NSD, both students and teachers. It was a wonderful little laboratory, full of mad scientists, and everything, every breakthrough and mistake and blank out and triumph, that anyone made, was something that I learned from and that influenced me, and I’m guessing will continue to do so for a long time.
- Are you working on any additional projects at the moment? Is it something you can tell us about?
Yes! A number of things! But almost none of which I can talk about! There are a couple of plays in development, and a TV pilot, and maybe a movie. But most imminently: keep an eye out for Hazard Rep’s first production, Cliff by Ryan Feyk. We’re developing it right now, and I think it’s going to be something special.
Lee Seymour is an actor, writer, and producer. Highlights as an actor include Triassic Parq (Off Broadway) and As You Like It (Stratford-Upon-Avon); as a producer they include Godspell (Broadway) and BALLS: The Musical (Off Broadway). He has written two novels and is working on a trilogy of Young Adult books about supernatural creatures hiding out on Cape Cod. He sits on the board of the artist residency SPACE on Ryder Farm, and enjoys Scotch smoky enough that you could mistake it for bogwater. MA from LAMDA, BA from Yale.
- You’ll be performing in our upcoming world premiere production of Dead Special Crabs. What was your history with the piece before coming on board for the full production (if any)? Could you tell us a little bit about your last project?
I have absolutely no history with the piece (I think I’m [one of the few] on board for whom that is true). I was connected to it by the wonderful casting director Kate Murray, who suggested me to our wonderful director Kristin Skye Hoffmann. The rest is wonderful history.
- How are rehearsals going? Can you tell us a little bit about the character you’ll be playing in Dead Special Crabs, and your favorite thing about this role? (No spoilers!)
Rehearsals have been a blast. We’re two weeks from previews and I still crack up watching the play. Everyone involved is massively talented and hilarious. My character is Barney Horntub, a detective from Western Massachusetts who is really not very good at his job, but does it with all the gusto he can muster. Like so many, deep down he’s just looking for a little bit of love.
- This is a road trip play, and the leaves are starting to change, so we have to ask: What’s your favorite place to go for a quick road trip getaway on the east coast?
Cape Cod, no doubt. Nothing like a weekend by the sea with a solid lobster roll in hand (even though the play is about people from Maine, I’ve got to say Cape Cod does lobster better – heresy, I know…)
- What’s your favorite work by Edgar Allen Poe? You know you have one.
"The Raven" is so beautiful that it excites me inappropriately.
- And while we’re on the subject: Crustaceans. Friend or food? Allergies? Assuming you eat them, which is your favorite one to eat? Any restaurants we need to know about?
Friend and food. I love a good snorkel, and nothing delights me more than finding a big friendly lobster peering out from under an overhang. Nothing…except, of course, for eating lobster afterward. I do love me some delicious arthropods. The best seafood place is in Chatham, MA: The Impudent Oyster. They serve lobster rolls that are basically a pile of fresh meat with a bun buried somewhere underneath. Flawless.
- When did you know that you wanted to be an actor? How did you get started?
When I set myself on fire in chemistry class by accident and turned it into a silly dance that entertained everyone. I thought, “I wonder if people get paid for this kind of thing.” Turns out the usually don’t, but that doesn’t stop it from being a fun thing to do with your nights.
- Who or what do you consider to have been your biggest creative influences to date? Why?
Eddie Izzard, Robin Williams, Anthony Hopkins, Judi Dench. Stand-up comics and Knights of the British Empire, basically.
- Are you working on any additional projects at the moment? Is it something you can tell us about?
I sit on the board of SPACE on Ryder Farm, a phenomenal artist residency program just north of NYC in Brewster. We host hundreds of artist every summer – from multiple Tony, Pulitzer, and Emmy winners to brand new up-and-comers – on our 130 acres of woodland. I’m hugely passionate about it and encourage anyone reading this to apply for our upcoming 5th season next year. (Also to donate to our organization, if that’s your thing. Art ain’t cheap, yo.)
A Georgia native, Nic Marrone made his own cross country road trip three years ago to attend the Master’s program at The New School for Drama. He is saddened knowing that after working on this piece, with this writer (Dan Kitrosser), and this director (Kristin Skye Hoffmann), and this incredible group of actors and crew, there just won’t be another opportunity quite as amazing as this one for a long, long time. www.ndmarrone.com
- You’ll be performing in our upcoming world premiere production of Dead Special Crabs. What was your history with the piece before coming on board for the full production (if any)? Could you tell us a little bit about your last project?
I was fortunate enough to do a reading of Dead Special Crabs a couple years ago under the direction of Kristin, and amazingly enough I got the chance to work with the dynamic duo (Kristin and Dan) on Dan’s thesis project The Old Forever New Things at The New School for Drama. These two create the perfect balance in a room with tons of hard work combined with incredible bouts of laughter and play.
- How are rehearsals going? Can you tell us a little bit about the character you’ll be playing in Dead Special Crabs, and your favorite thing about this role? (No spoilers!)
I’m playing Loomer, and rehearsals have been a blast as expected! I’m usually cast as the weirdo or the comedic relief so my favorite thing about this role is getting to play the straight man. It’s a challenge because I have to constantly react as if everything is happening for the first time and I have to somehow keep from laughing at the brilliant comedians in the room.
- This is a road trip play, and the leaves are starting to change, so we have to ask: What’s your favorite place to go for a quick road trip getaway on the east coast?
Georgia, baby! Always! Savannah is the East Coast king!
- What’s your favorite work by Edgar Allen Poe? You know you have one.
"The Tell-Tale Heart"!
- And while we’re on the subject: Crustaceans. Friend or food? Allergies? Assuming you eat them, which is your favorite one to eat? Any restaurants we need to know about?
My family traditionally has lobster for New Year’s Eve! And there’s no better NYC dining than the Red Lobster in Times Square…
- When did you know that you wanted to be an actor? How did you get started?
I played the Owl in my kindergarten’s production of Hoo Hoo Who Lost a Shoe. Never looked back.
- Who or what do you consider to have been your biggest creative influences to date? Why?
I’m actually in a weird place to be asked this question, haha! Lately I’ve been very interested in the transfer of energy (both physical and abstract) and the span of its ripple effect. So I guess I would consider everything that has ever happened to me ever as a creative influence. That’s a lil too deep, but here we are.
- Are you working on any additional projects at the moment? Is it something you can tell us about?
Haven’t signed the official contract, but I’m on board as the male swing in the national tour of Peter and the Starcatcher! Hooray!
Ellen David is the proud recipient of the 2006 New York Innovative Theater Award as Outstanding Actress in a Lead Role for Working Man's Clothes' production of To Nineveh by Bekah Brunstetter. After studying in London at Guildhall, she moved to Israel where she appeared on Israel National Television, toured with The English Theater of Tel Aviv, portrayed Pilate's Wife in the Norman Jewison film Jesus Christ Superstar, and dubbed numerous international movies. In New York, she was a founding member of the sketch comedy group "Rubber Feet". Regionally, she has performed at The Cleveland Playhouse and the Hanna Theater. At The Schoolhouse Theater, she played Geneva in Landford Wilson's Redwood Curtain and the fabulous Bunny in Albert Innaurato's Gemini. She had the title role in Clifford Odet's Country Girl at Fleetwood Stage where she also performed Love Letters with Matthew Arkin. She can be seen in the Law & Order episode "Kid Pro Quo." Last season, she played twelve characters in The A is for Abortion Play at FringeNYC. Recently, she took part in the HB Studios' Ten Minute Plays, where she played the scientist, Lise Meitner. She has recorded numerous Talking Books for the blind and visually impaired. www.ellendavid.com
- You’ll be performing in our upcoming world premiere production of Dead Special Crabs. What was your history with the piece before coming on board for the full production (if any)? Could you tell us a little bit about your last project?
I had the great pleasure of meeting the author, Dan Kitrosser, through a director friend, Isaac Byrne. About four years ago, Dan asked me to do a table read of Dead Special Crabs, which was followed at a later date by a staged reading. I was delighted when I was asked to audition for the world premiere! And this past spring, I portrayed Lise Meitner in Maria Torres' The Job Offer at HB Studios' Ten Minute Play Festival.
- How are rehearsals going? Can you tell us a little bit about the character you’ll be playing in Dead Special Crabs, and your favorite thing about this role? (No spoilers!)
Rehearsals for Dead Special Crabs are fun, exciting, and daunting. I play Aunt Missy, a cantankerous Maine crabber with a mission. Mayhem ensues! I love finding the shades of Aunt Missy…just when you think you know what she's about…she throws you a curve. The company is so talented and director Kristin Skye Hoffmann has a bold and zany vision that she happily shares with us all.
- This is a road trip play, and the leaves are starting to change, so we have to ask: What’s your favorite place to go for a quick road trip getaway on the east coast?
At this time…or any time…I like to head up to Boston to see my sister!
- What’s your favorite work by Edgar Allen Poe? You know you have one.
My favorite work by Edgar Allen Poe is "The Pit and The Pendulum." I recently reread it and got all shivery.
- And while we’re on the subject: Crustaceans. Friend or food? Allergies? Assuming you eat them, which is your favorite one to eat? Any restaurants we need to know about?
Yum! I love shrimp, scallops, lobster, and crab! Joe's Stone Crab in Miami is my favorite! Nothing raw though!!!
- When did you know that you wanted to be an actor? How did you get started?
I knew I wanted to be an actor from the age of twelve, though it took me till age fifteen to get enough courage to actually audition. That first role was Mary Warren in The Crucible, and I was hooked!
Samantha Cooper is tickled pink to work with this hilarious, talented group of artists. Recent credits include: Leah In Vegas (FringeNYC, dir: Kristin Skye Hoffmann), the award-winning Goliath (Culture Project, Wild Project, California tour); Worldwide Plays/Writopia Lab ‘13 & ‘14 (Theatre Row, June Havoc); Ok! Cupid! The Musical, Foreign Bodies (Women Center Stage/Culture Project); And Then They Came For Me (NCTC); Twelfth Night (BoCoCa Festival); The Killing of Jacob Marr (221 Films). Samantha received her B.A. from UC San Diego, and has trained at Shakespeare Santa Cruz, A.C.T., Circle In The Square, and the Lorenzo de’Medici school in Florence, Italy. Administrative Director/Company Member - Poetic Theater Productions. Founding Member - Brass Tacks Theatre Collective. For Toby, always. www.samanthafcooper.com
- You’ll be performing in our upcoming world premiere production of Dead Special Crabs. What was your history with the piece before coming on board for the full production (if any)? Could you tell us a little bit about your last project?
This run is my introduction to the world of Dead Special Crabs, although I have worked with many members of our hard-working team. The lovable Dan Kitrosser directed me in the Writopia World Wide Play Festival a few years ago, and I have been craving to be in something he has penned. The incredible Rosie Kolbo has stage managed the past three projects on which I have worked and I never want to part with her. And this past summer, the effervescent Kristin Skye Hoffman directed Kara Ayn Napolitano's new piece, Leah In Vegas, for FringeNYC. I played two challenging roles; the work was hard, fast, fun, and complemented by a very talented cast and crew.
- This is a road trip play, and the leaves are starting to change, so we have to ask: What’s your favorite place to go for a quick road trip getaway on the east coast?
It's funny because Leah In Vegas was also a road trip play, although I did not partake in the road trip (and now I am - thanks, Dan - I finally get to hold the steering wheel!). My favorite NY getaway is Fire Island. I was lucky enough to spend my summers there as a kid. It is the only place I can fully relax (yes, relaxing is hard for me, hush) but hand me a Corona with lime and a beach chair and I'm good to go.
- What’s your favorite work by Edgar Allen Poe? You know you have one.
The Tell-Tale Heart.
- And while we’re on the subject: Crustaceans. Friend or food? Allergies? Assuming you eat them, which is your favorite one to eat? Any restaurants we need to know about?
Crustaceans. Huge fan. Shrimp, crab, lobster with some lemon butter sauce...I'm hungry. Lobster is my true favorite and if you put it in a bisque, I'm yours. A great old-time favorite is The Oyster Bar in Grand Central. My dad and I go there when we're feeling particularly skinny and need to rectify that situation.
- Who or what do you consider to have been your biggest creative influences to date? Why?
You know, during rehearsal, we keep bringing up certain films that are reminiscent of the comedic style of Dead Special Crabs. Clue is one of them, and we randomly break into quotes (which I do in my daily life, as well). So I think I finally have to come out and state for the record that Tim Curry, Madeline Kahn, Michael McKean and the rest of that zany cast influenced my humor and timing more than any other ensemble of actors...with cast of Robin Hood: Men In Tights coming in as a close second.
- Are you working on any additional projects at the moment? Is it something you can tell us about?
I am a company member of Poetic Theater Productions, and they are about to open Back, by Mickey Bolmer and directed by Andrew Willis-Woodward, at the cell on 23rd Street. I can't wait to see it; audiences are definitely in for a party. In November, I'm set to shoot a role in the film I Fell in Love with a Psychopath by Whitney Ellis.
Andrew Harriss is an actor and writer who has been a member of Wide Eyed Productions since its inception in 2007. Company credits include The Medea, Much Ado About Nothing, One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest, A Devil Inside, The Last Days Of Judas Iscariot, Henry VI (Part III), and Plight Of The Apothocary in 2011’s A Girl Wrote It. Other credits include Gorilla Rep's Hamlet, The Jack Johnson Project, and All For Love with Boomerang Theatre Company. Andrew is also the writer, producer, and star of the webseries White Liars, and the short films The Friday Before Christmas, Moroccan Birdhouse (co-wrote), and Best Friends Club. He is originally from Irvine, California and holds a BFA from Hofstra University.
- You’ll be performing in our upcoming world premiere production of Dead Special Crabs. What was your history with the piece before coming on board for the full production (if any)? Could you tell us a little bit about your last project?
I was asked by (director) Kristin Hoffmann to participate in a reading of Dead Special Crabs for the 2013 Wide Eyed WINKS reading series (season 1). She wasn’t sure which role she wanted me to read for, so I read the script on my flight home for Christmas, and by the time I got to page 37 I was like, “oh, oh, yes, I would very much like to play Walter.” So I texted Kristin as soon as we landed, and luckily for me she felt the same way.
- How are rehearsals going? Can you tell us a little bit about the character you’ll be playing in Dead Special Crabs, and your favorite thing about this role? (No spoilers!)
Rehearsals are going well. Coming from the reading, which was now over a year and a half ago, it’s been interesting to expand on the choices that were made and to put Walter into a deeper context within the play as a whole. I absolutely love playing him. I think of any character I’ve ever played he has the most positive outlook on life.
- This is a road trip play, and the leaves are starting to change, so we have to ask: What’s your favorite place to go for a quick road trip getaway on the east coast?
Well, I’m from the west coast, so my first thought is, “What is this word…fall?” which is ridiculous because I’ve lived here for almost 15 years. I just went to Boston for the first time and had a blast there. I don’t know, I love DC, and Vermont seems like it might be nice. I imagine you could probably get an amazing cozy fall breakfast in Vermont.
- What’s your favorite work by Edgar Allen Poe? You know you have one.
I really like the version of ‘The Raven’ The Simpsons did. That pretty much sums up my experience of EAP.
- And while we’re on the subject: Crustaceans. Friend or food? Allergies? Assuming you eat them, which is your favorite one to eat? Any restaurants we need to know about?
I could eat lobster rolls for days. Crab rolls, too. Luke’s Lobster does a great job at both of those. Are oysters crustaceans? The oldest tavern in New York City, The Fraunces Tavern, has a special on weekends where you can get a pint of stout and 3 oysters for 12 bucks. Beer and oysters in a place where George Washington used to hang out? Yes, please.
- When did you know that you wanted to be an actor? How did you get started?
I have wanted to be an actor since I was about 9 years old. My mom signed me up for some drama-for-kids program at some local community center, and my first role was as a dog named Bowser who owned a pet shop.
- Who or what do you consider to have been your biggest creative influences to date? Why?
That’s a hard question to answer. Everything? I generally take influence from whatever is going on in my life, or whomever I happen to be spending time with. John Ritter was a big influence on me, and Robin Williams. My family is an endless source of creative influence, too.
- Are you working on any additional projects at the moment? Is it something you can tell us about?
I’m a member of Real.Good.Spies., Wide Eyed’s improv troupe, and I’ll be in a reading of Sam Byron’s play Butcher during one of our dark nights [at the TBG Theatre] when we’re not tearing it up with Dead Special Crabs.
