Christopher Lueck and Joel Jeske introduce the SLAPSTICK DOJO, a weekly training event for physical comedy. They also talk generally about education in the discipline of clown. Joel talks about his upcoming (in May) classes entitled “Practical Skills for the Adventurous Performer”.  Martin Denton moderates.

Christopher and Joel explain the reasons for starting Slapstick Dojo classes and what participants can expect. Joel explains his new class as being akin to physical theatre and goes on to tell what he means by that.

Both men are clowns but their backgrounds are quite different.  Christopher is a graduate of The Dell’ Arte International School of Physical Theatre and is a certified instructor of Japanese samurai sword fighting.  Joel is a graduate of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Clown College and toured with them for several years, has appeared with The Big Apple Circus, and of late, is a member of Mark Lonergan’s Parallel Exit Theater Company and has been seen in several of their shows.

And they are both very funny.

Episode Links:

• NYC Physical Theater wesbsite
• Parallel Exit website
• New York Downtown Clown website

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Leonard Jacobs moderates the first of a series of podcasts to introduce the playwrights of Plays and Playwrights 2008. Meet Crystal Skillman (The Telling Trilogy), Daniel Reitz (Fall Forward) and Daniel Talbott (What Happened When) and gain some insight into these talented folk.

All three are members of Rising Phoenix Rep,  a fairly new theatre company founded by Daniel Talbott.  Leonard became acquainted with the company in his role as chair of the Honorary Awards Committee for the New York Innovative Theatre Awards which in 2007 bestowed the Caffe Cino Fellowship Award to Rising Phoenix Rep.

Extremely comfortable with each other, Daniel, Crystal, and Daniel have lots of opinions and thoughts to share with Leonard and the listening audience.  Find out which one works on their plays early in the morning; which one doesn’t really do re-writes too often, and which one is the newest to playwriting. 

Plays and Playwrights 2008 is the ninth anthology of work by emerging playwrights published by The New York Theatre Experience.  Enjoy this podcast and there will be more to follow for a chance to meet the rest of the playwrights.

Episode Links:

• Info about Plays and Playwrights 2008
• Launch Party at the Kraine
• Purchase Plays and Playwrights 2008
• Rising Phoenix Rep

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Jon Stancato of Stolen Chair Theatre Company moderates a roundtable discussion about fundraising events for indie theater. The other panel members are Ralph Lewis of Peculiar Works Project, Jessica Davis-Irons of AndHOW Theatre Company, and Abby Marcus of Vampire Cowboys Theatre Company.

This is a really interesting conversation, offering lots of insights about inventive and successful events that have worked for these companies in the past.

Ralph offers some particularly sound advice on this podcast, suggesting that indie theater artists need to attend fundraisers for other companies besides their own, both to see what works and also to learn about their colleagues in the community.

Stolen Chair’s fundraiser event for their upcoming show is on February 2, 2008 — Jon tells us about this event on the episode as well.

Episode Links:

• Stolen Chair Theatre Company website
• Peculiar Works Project website
• AndHOW Theatre Company website
• Vampire Cowboys Theatre Company website
• Stolen Chair’s Party Like Pirates fundraiser website

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This is the first of a projected series of roundtable discussions with indie theater directors about a variety of topics. This episode focuses on the subject of auditions. The moderator is Martin Denton and the participants are Cat Parker, Steven Petrillo, and Scott C. Embler.

The panel offers a lot of  useful and valuable information about the audition process, particularly for actors, who will get a lot of tips from this discussion. Some of the specific topics covered include how to prepare for an audition, how to behave throughout the audition (not just during the performance component, but from the moment you arrive), and effective use of headshots and resumes.

One of the most interesting insights is that when a director gives an actor notes during an audition, it doesn’t mean the actor has done something wrong!

There’s also some great conversation about directors’ pet peeves.

Cat Parker is producing director at T. Schreiber Studio. Steven Petrillo is a freelance director who recently helmed the off-Broadway musical Sessions. Scott C. Embler was founding producing director of Vital Theatre Company and is now a freelance director.

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Martin Denton hosts this look back at the highlights of the New York City theatre scene during the past 12 months. His guests are nytheatre.com reviewer Michael Criscuolo and Leonard Jacobs, who is national editor of Back Stage magazine. (Michael is also the host of nytheatrecast’s Indie Theatre Life series; Leonard is launching the Leonard Jacobs Show on nytheatrecast starting in January 2008.)

The three, who reviewed hundreds of shows each last year, discuss many of the new plays, excellent performances, and interesting revivals that excited them during 2007. Dozens of shows are included!

Please send in your feedback about what you hear on the podcast, and what you think belongs on the list of the best of 2007 in NYC theatre.

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In this episode, Trav S.D. moderates a roundtable about contemporary burlesque. (Trav S.D. says the table is not only round but curvaceous.)

Our guests are three of NYC’s burlesque scene’s biggest stars: Bonnie Dunn, Julie Atlas Muz, and Nasty Canasta. Each of these ladies shares insights about her own career and her views of how burlesque has evolved into a sophisticated live entertainment form.

Episode Links:

• Le Scandal (at the Cutting Room; Bonnie Dunn’s show)
• Julie Atlas Muz’s website
• Nasty Canasta’s website

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nytheatrecast goes beyond the five boroughs to take a look at the theatre scene in Westchester County, New York. Joining our moderator Leonard Jacobs are Jack W. Batman and Bruce Harris of White Plains Performing Arts Center and Bill Stutler of Westchester Broadway Theatre.

White Plains Perfoming Arts Center offers a diverse array of programming aimed at many age groups, tastes, and personalities. Their Broadway Classics series will kick off on November 29th with a new production of Man of la Mancha starring Robert Cuccioli.

 Westchester Broadway Theatre is a dinner theatre offering revivals (and, occasionally) new productions of classic musicals. Their current season includes the Maury Yeston Phantom, along with A Christmas Carol, Buddy, and Beauty and the Beast.

Our guests point out that Westchester’s theatre scene is booming. The theatres are within an hour of downtown Manhattan and both companies often feature Broadway-caliber talent.

Episode Links:

• White Plains Performing Arts Center website
• Westchester Broadway Theatre website

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Martin Denton hosts this roundtable discussion about aspects of performance on the Internet. The participants are Robin Reed, Chance Muehleck, and Matthew Freeman, all of whom have created and partaken in Internet-based performance projects.

The discussion is pretty wide-ranging. Robin talks about The Crush Project, which is a podcast series featuring actors performing postings from Craigslist. Chance talks about The Attendants, a recent multimedia performance installation that his company Live Theater presented at chashama; it included a component whereby audience members could send messages to the actors, who responded to them in real time. Matt talks about the recent live blogging event at the Brick Theater’s Pretentious Festival, in which he was a participant.

There’s also some discussion about the implications of new technology as a tool for creating/augmenting theatrical performance…and perhaps even as a replacement for live theatre.

Episode Links:

• The Crush Project’s website
• Robin Reed’s blog
• Live Theater website
• The Attendants on YouTube
• Matthew Freeman’s blog

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On this episode of nytheatrecast, we take a sneak peak at three of the shows coming to Horse Trade Theatre Group venues in October 2007. The shows are: Harm’s Way by Mac Wellman, directed by johnmichael rossi, presented by NewFangledTheatrer (at Under St. Marks); Kinderspiel by Kiran Rikhye, directed by Jon Stancato, presented by Stolen Chair Theatre Company (also at Under St. Marks); and Say Your Prayers, Mug!, written and directed by Todd Michael, presented by Grayce Productions.

All three of these directors talk about their shows; Justin Sturges, who is an actor in Harm’s Way is also in on the discussion. It’s a great conversation, with lots of interplay among our guests and moderator Martin Denton. You’ll get a great idea about all three of these pieces from listening to this program.

This episode also features a brief excerpt from Say Your Prayers, Mug! performed by Jimmy Blackman, Walter Hoffman, and Lawrence Lesher.

Episode Links:

• Harm’s Way info on nytheatre.com
• Harm’s Way review on nytheatre.com
• NewFangledTheater on MySpace
• Kinderspiel info on nytheatre.com
• Kinderspiel website
• Stolen Chair Theatre Company Blog
• Say Your Prayers, Mug! info on nytheatre.com
• Horse Trade Theatre Group

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nytheatre.com correspondent Adam Klasfeld moderates a roundtable discussion about improv comedy. The participants are Rob Reese, the artistic director of the improv group Amnesia Wars; Sharon Fogarty, who is a cast member in the Chicago City Limits touring company; and Steven Slate, who is a member of the improv groups Big Tobacco and Death League Tea Party, as well as one of the Magnet Theatre’s resident improv teams.

These three veteran improvers talk about their respective backgrounds, and their different approaches to improv comedy (Rob and Sharon are seasoned practitioners of short form improv; Steven is more well-versed in long form). They also talk about the wide-reaching influence of Chicago comedy pioneers Del Close, The Compass, and Second City.

And, of course, Adam, Rob, Sharon, and Steven conclude their discussion the only way they possibly could: by improvising. Listen to the panelists’ lightning-fast skills in action!

Rob is also a two-time NYTE alumni playwright: his play, Survivor: Vietnam!, was published in Plays and Playwrights 2004; and his stage adaptation of Frankenstein was published in the NYTE anthology, Playing With Canons.

Episode links:

• Amnesia Wars website
• Amnesia Wars MySpace page
• Chicago City Limits website
• Big Tobacco MySpace page
• Death League Tea Party MySpace page
• Magnet Theater website 
• Plays and Playwrights 2004 info
• Buy Plays and Playwrights 2004
• Playing With Canons info
• Buy Playing With Canons

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