Dairyland

I just spent an amazingly productive week at Chautauqua Theatre Company working on a New Play Workshop of Heidi Armbruster's play DAIRYLAND. It is the first play she has written and seen on its feet. She is a rock star. Her dad flew from Wisconsin to see it. That was pretty neat.

Click here for an article on the play from the Chautauqua Daily.

CAST

ALLIE - Kate Abbruzzese (Conservatory Actor)

DECLAN - Tramell Tillman (Conservatory Actor)

JONATHAN - Christian DeMarais (Conservatory Actor)

HENRY - Cotter Smith (AEA Guest Artist)

SUNSHINE - Susana Batres (Conservatory Actor)

CREATIVE TEAM

Set Design by IZMIR ICKBAL (Fellow)

Costume Design by HANNAH PROCHASKA (Fellow)

Lighting Design by KRISTEN NEU (Fellow)

Sound Design by ELLIOT DAVOREN (Fellow)

Stage Manager KATIE STEVENS*

Assistant Stage Manager JADE CAGALAWAN

Assistant Director  HEIDI HANDELSMAN

Back in the Saddle

So, it has been ALMOST 5 years since I have written anything on this blog and just came across it again through a variety of extenuating circumstances that I won't go into right now. I have been known to say in the very recent past that I hate blogs.  But for reasons that I might slowly write about over the coming months, it has become clear to me that it might be a really good exercise for me to keep track of what I have been doing. And not just because I have a really bad memory. Even if no one reads one word. Just for the mere act of speaking up and putting it out there. Just for me. So here goes. 

Penelope Redux

Staged Reading of

PENELOPE

by Ellen McLaughlin
as part of the Red Bull's Revelation Readings.
Monday, November 2
@ 7:30 pm

Eyepiece

Heading to Iowa City, IA (Oct 19 - Nov 1) to work with Rinde Eckert on EYEPIECE.
Production to go up in February at Hancher Auditorium.

Old Ship of Zion

The Old Ship of Zion
by Natalia Naman

at the Lark
for Playwrights Week
October 2 @ 4 pm

With: Inga Ballard, Victoire Charles, Harriet Foy, Chad Goodridge, Ron Cephas Jones, Ty Jones, Renita Martin, Kelly McCreary, Chivas Michael, and David Ryan Smith

Egypt/Ethiopia

I leave one week from today. Check in occasionally as I update on my travels.

I can't believe I am going to Cairo. A child hood dream of mine, after seeing the King Tut exhibit in Chicago when I was a kid. And just a few months ago in Atlanta with my brother, sister in law and nephew. So cool.

L.

Slide Show from Interpreting William

Interpreting William

World premiere of Interpreting William by James Still

Directed by Lisa Rothe

Indiana Repertory Theatre

Cast:
David Alan Anderson, Tim Grimm, Lena Hurt, Robert Neal,
Carmen Roman and Delanna Studi

Designers:
ML Geiger (Lights)
Alex Jaeger (Costumes)
Todd Reischman (Sound)
Ann Sheffield (Set)
Kim Sherman (Composer)

May 12 - May 31

For IRT show blog, click here

Little Opera - Ada

the little opera theatre of ny
presents

NEW VOICES
a concert featuring new operas by three living composers: Edward Ficklin,
Kim D. Sherman, & Inessa Zaretsky

Wednesday, April 15th at 8pm

The Kosciuszko Foundation
15 East 65th Street
New York, NY 10065

Tickets through www.smarttix.com (212 868 4444)
$20.00

Looking for the Pony Photos

Critical praise for Pony:

"Looking for the Pony ... deserves a bouquet of pink ribbons for investing its dark subject matter with nearly equal doses of humor and poignancy.

It's virtually impossible not to be moved by its depiction of compassion, courage and humanness -- or to resist the high-caliber performances that director Lisa Rothe coaxes from her cast of four."

- Wendell Brock, AJC

"...director Lisa Rothe has staged a smooth-flowing, fast-paced journey..."

- Brad Rudy of Theatre Buzz

Performed at 7 Stages, 1105 Euclid Ave
Little Five Points (driving directions). (Thru March 8)

Cast includes Suehyla El-Attar, Jennifer Levison, Stacy Melich, and John Benzinger.

All photos: Stacey Bode, www.staceybode.com

PONY

Heading to Atlanta to direct Andrea Lepcio's LOOKING FOR THE PONY. Play is produced by Synchronicity Theatre at 7 Stages and runs Feb 6 - March 8. Check back for more info.

ADA Redux

Composed by Kim Sherman
Libretto by Margaret Vandenburg
Directed by Lisa Rothe
Musical Direction by Kimberly Grigsby

Cast: Jacqueline Antaramian, Christopher Burchett, Sarah Chalfy, Cherry Duke, Bryce Pinkham, David Schmidt, Abigail Shue, Sarah Statler, Timothy Thomas and Lars Woodul.

We will present the first 75 minutes of our new chamber opera at Ensemble Studio Theater on two dates:

Saturday, December 6 at 8:00 pm
Monday, December 8 at 7:00 pm

Location: Ensemble Studio Theatre
549 west 52nd Street (between 10th and 11th Avenues)

"Ada Byron, daughter of the famed Romantic poet Lord Byron, was one of the most spectacular characters in computer history. Like her father before her, Ada embarks on a Romantic quest very much at odds with the prevailing Victorian ethic of restraint. Her vision of mathematics transforms stark theorems and numerical figures into rich metaphors and linguistic constructions, thus paving the way for the invention of computer languages."

Reservations: 212-247-4982 x105
Suggested donation: $10

HOT L

Directing HOT L Baltimore at NYU Graduate Acting Program.



Reservations click here

Oct 22 @ 7 pm
Oct 24 @ 7 pm
Oct 25 @ 2 pm
Oct 26 @ 7 pm
Oct 28 @ 7 pm

PENELOPE at Gallatin

You are invited to

a workshop presentation of

PENELOPE

by Ellen McLaughlin

and composer Sarah Kirkland Snyder

Directed by Lisa Rothe

A woman's ex-husband appears at her door after
an absence of 20 years, suffering from brain damage.
A veteran of a modern war, he doesn't know who he is
and she doesn't know who he's become.
While they wait together for his return to himself, she reads him 'The Odyssey,'
and in the journey of that book, she finds a way into her former husband's memory
and the terror and trauma of war.

Help us kick off the inaugural season of

NYU Gallatin School's
Labowitz Theatre
715 Broadway
Ground Floor

Wednesday, Oct 29 @ 7 pm
Thursday, Oct 30@7 pm
Friday, Oct 31 @ 7 pm
Saturday, Nov 1 @ 2 pm
Saturday, Nov 1 @ 7 pm

*

performed by Ellen McLaughlin

and the

Penelope String quartet:

Olivia De Prato

Amie Weiss

Beth Meyers

Lauren Radnofsky

*

Set design by Eliza Brown

Lighting Design by ML Geiger

Video design by Marilys Ernst and Lisa Rothe

*

Tickets are $10, with free admission to NYU students presenting valid ID.

Tickets are available online at

https://www.ovationtix.com/trs/pr/75242

and can also be purchased at the

Ticket Central Box Office in the Kimmel Center, 60 Washington Square South, on the day of performance.

Students must present ID at Ticket Central to obtain free seats.

Tickets will not be sold at the door.

Penelope was first produced in 2008 by the Getty Museum in Los Angeles.

It will also play Princeton University's Taplin Auditorium Nov. 4 & 5 at 8 PM (In a much less realized production)

Award

Outstanding Direction

Lisa Rothe, Couldn't Say

Award Noms

Couldn't Say, and the the incredibly talented team that created it, has been nominated for SIX awards including:

Outstanding Overall Production of a New Drama Play
Outstanding Direction
Outstanding Lead Actor
Outstanding Lead Actress
Outstanding Lighting Design
and
Outstanding Scenic Design

The awards ceremony and party will be on Friday, Sept 5 at The Bleecker St Theater.

Playwrights Week

THE NOISEMAKERS
by Mark Borkowski
directed by Lisa Rothe

When a mentally disturbed father seeks forgiveness for sins against his family, he asks his son to help him take the only action he believes will fully absolve him: he wants to be crucified. His request unveils the family’s darkest secrets and forces them to confront their demons.

Saturday, September 27 @ 4pm
Lark Play Development Center
939 Eighth Avenue, Ste 301

Morgan Street

Musical Reading of

Morgan St.

Book by Jeremy Alan Richards

Music by Jeremy Alan Richards, Anika Noni Rose, Eugene Gwozdz

directed by Lisa Rothe

Featuring: Ronnell Bey, Caitlin Mahoney, Adam McNulty, Chivas Michael, Nyambi Nyambi, Anika Noni Rose, Emily Swallow, Tim Thomas,

A story of the American melting pot and the love that abounds when you can actually choose your own family; Morgan Street follows Travis, a Bi-racial child adopted into a white, Quaker family, as he searches for himself, his roots, and his birthparents, and discovers whether he has the mental capacity to travel that road intact.

Monday, July 21 @ 7pm in the Shubert Theatre at NYU - 721 Broadway

Couldn't Say

I am directing a show for the Midtown International Theatre Festival this summer. We have 7 performances and opening night is already sold out. The theatre is fairly small (56 seats?) and tickets are going fast. That's all I'm saying...

The play is COULDN'T SAY, a two-hander by Christopher Wall. The cast is terrific - Brent Langdon and Elizabeth Rich. And it is being designed by a fabulous team: Eliza Brown (sets), Christina Bullard (costumes), Melissa Mizell (lights) and Dan Kluger (sound). And our stage manager, Sid King, rocks.

Because it's a festival, there is a mish mosh of dates and times, so check carefully. Running time is around an hour, so you can plan something else in your evening as well!

DATES and TIMES:

Saturday, July 19 @ 5 pm (SOLD OUT)
Monday, July 21 @ 8:30 pm
Tuesday, July 22 @ 6:30 pm
Sunday, July 27 @ 5:45 pm
Wednesday, July 30 @ 5:15 pm
Friday, August 1 @ 5:30 pm
Sunday, August 3 @ 3:00 pm

PLACE:

Dorothy Strelsin Theatre
Abingdon Theatre Arts Complex
312 W 36th St - 1st floor
Just west of 8th avenue

Tickets can be purchased through our web site:

http://www.couldntsay.com/

or directly through Ticket Central at

http://www.ticketcentral.com/showdetails2.asp?showid=1714

Thanks for the support! Hope to see you there...

Keen Teens

May 9, 10 & 11

Off-Broadway theatre company Keen Company,
in a partnership with Playscripts, Inc.
invites you to join its free theatre program for students,
KEEN TEENS.

http://www.keencompany.org/teens.html


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