Flash Sale: *Today Only* Get 20% off your tickets to Wide Eyed's Masquerade Ball!

photo by AL Pearsall

$80 discount tickets are available *today only* for 

Wide Eyed's Masquerade Ball Gala! 

The $80 ticket option is listed at the bottom of our ticketing page.

Masks optional ~ fun guaranteed. 

Come join us on Saturday, March 7, for a magical evening under twinkling lights!

Gala Inspiration DIY: Make a Masquerade Mask (from scratch)

With the Wide Eyed masquerade ball Gala (March 7) - and Mardi Gras (Feb. 17) - fast approaching, we thought we'd take advantage of the brutally cold weather and long President's Day weekend to make some hot cocoa and build some masks. Check out the short youtube tutorial below, hit your local Michael's craft store for provisions, and get to crafting. 

 

What's that? You don't have tickets for our Gala yet? 

Get 'em now.

Valentine, Romance Isn't Dead: It'll be at our Gala on March 7

Want to celebrate your sweetie without battling for a reservation on Valentine's Day? 

Plan a romantic night out for Saturday, March 7. Put on your dancing shoes and join us for a masquerade ball Gala at 

Dune Studios in SoHo. 

Got rehearsal? Come after. We'll set the scene; you supply the moves. Don't be surprised if you get kissed for it.

Get your tickets.

Announcing the Plays for our WINKS Staged Reading Series - Season Three

The Double-Take Staged Reading Series: 
A Wide Eyed Look at Theatrical Adaptation

Wide Eyed Productions will be hosting our third installment of the WINKS staged reading series! This time around, we will be focusing exclusively on new theatrical works of adapted content (meaning plays inspired by other works).

Wide Eyed Productions is excited to continue its work on new American plays like our recent, world premiere production of Dead Special Crabs by Dan Kitrosser and the award-winning Animals by Sam Byron. We had such a good response to the previous seasons of readings, we want the fun to continue.

From March through August 2015, please join us on the first Tuesday of every month at The Drama League, where we will feature a 20-minute segment from three original works by three different writers, which are related to, or inspired by, that month’s theme (see below). At the end of each night, the audience will be invited to select their favorite of the evening anonymously. The majority favorite will be named a semifinalist and be invited to submit a full text* to Wide Eyed Productions’ Artistic Board for consideration for our final round.

The 2015 monthly themes and selected plays for each are as follows:  

MARCH - Anything But Disney: Adaptations from fairy tales from around the world

Janis and the Big BAD World - Catherine Weingarten 

Anna Something: A Queer Cinderella Story - Anna Fox 

Not the Same Old Story - David Rigano 

APRIL - Shake it Up: Adaptations from any of the Bard's many works

Tamed - Holly Hepp-Galván 

Caliban - Michael Aman 

Better Than Dreaming (Musical) - Alan Gordon and Joy Son

MAY - In the News: Adaptations from past or current news stories from all forms of media

The Glow Overhead - Nick Gandiello 

Duck - Tom Block 

Modern Day Alchemy - Ashleigh Catsos 

JUNE - It’s All Greek to Me: Adaptations from Greek texts and mythos

Electra Orleans - Joe Musso 

The Cyclops - Jonathan Alexandratos 

Iocasta Regina or Oedipus in Utero - Ilan Ben-Yehuda

JULY - myTunes: Adaptations from pop songs, opera and other musical inspirations

Don Gio - Joshua R. Pangborn 

Seven Deadly Scenes - Kaleigh Prue 

Vogue - Charles Salmon 

AUGUST - Page Turners: Adaptations from works of literature

Return of the King -  Edmond Malin

Masque of the Red Death - Matt Herzfeld 

Callaway - Phillip Gerson

Blackbeard’s Revenge (Young Audiences) - Leonora Bernstein

Wide Eyed Productions exists to bring brave, bold and culturally relevant new texts to production. With a core ensemble of emerging theatre artists, we are dedicated to leaving our audience Wide Eyed.

Gala Inspiration: La Festa Veneziana sull’acqua

The winter doldrums are upon us, but there is a bright spot on the immediate horizon for Wide Eyed Productions: our Gala on March 7!

We wanted to share a little costume inspiration - and a virtual 2.5 minute vacation - to go along with your coffee this morning. Carnevale kicked off in the fair city of Venice, Italy, this week, and if there's one thing we really appreciate, it's a party that leaves everyone wide-eyed.

Can't get to Venice right now? Come to our Gala. A couple drinks in, and you'll swear everyone's speaking Italian.

Don't forget to get your tickets, and start planning those masks.

 

Photo Flashback: Gala 2013

photos by 

Kevin Chavez and Cam Kafura

A few outtakes from the step-and-repeat / photo booth 

at last year's Gala. A great time was had by all - 

and this year, we're pulling out all the stops. 

More details to come as the time gets closer, 

but won't you join us for

 a masquerade ball? 

Dune Studios, SoHo, NYC 

Saturday, March 7, 2015

Get your tickets now - you'll be glad you did.

Wide Eyed Welcome: Meet J Alexander Diaz, Resident Sound Designer

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.