Elegies For Angels, Punks and Raging Queens is “a dramatic and musical theater  piece composed of free verse poems and songs reflecting the lives of people who have lived with and died from AIDS.” explains Bill Russell who wrote the lyrics and book. And Bill joins Martin Denton, moderator, and Brad Caswell who is directing a new production of this piece.

Brad, whose theatre company Sweet & Tart Productions is co-producing Eligies, talks about his first time seeing this piece.  He continues telling of his getting to know Bill and the final decision to produce this as a fundraiser for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.

Bill gets to explain how he first came to write this piece and when he knew it should be musicalized turned to an old friend, Janet Hood, to do just that.  He talks about seeing the Names Project Quilt unveiled on the Mall in Washington, DC in ’87 and how that inspired him to begin writing.

This is a much produced piece that hasn’t been seen in this area since soon after the turn of the 21st century.  Both men discuss how important it is that everyone remember that AIDS is still an ongoing epidemic.

And just in case you don’t remember, Bill is best known as the author of the Broadway musical, Side Show.

Episode Links:

• Show listing on nytheatre.com
• Bill Russell’s website
• Sweet & Tart Productions website

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On this episode Martin Denton chats with Ken Wolf, artistic director of Manhattan Repertory Theatre.  Ken’s company is just a few years old and is known mostly for a series of festivals throughout the year showcasing, usually new work in his small intimate black box theatre in the heart of Times Square.

Ken talks about his background, his work as an actor, his years away from theatre, and his return as director, playwright, and more recently producer. Ken has several fun stories and anecdotes he relates along the way.

Ken discusses several of the plays he has written which his company has, or will, produce.  He also talks about his latest idea which is to help new productions get a chance to be seen. He share his thoughts about the type of theatre he enjoys most and some of his ideas about producing.

Episode Links:

• Manhattan Repertory Theatre website

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Write a play with dogs, about torture, about interrogation methods, about choice overload — said Dan Safer, director/choreographer of Witness Relocation.  Loving a challenge and the chance to work with an ensemble, playwright Saviana Stanescu immediately went to work.  The finished product is Vicious Dogs On Premises.

On this podcast you will learn more about each of these fascinating theatre artists, how they got together and you will gain insight into the creative process that went into the making of this new production.  Dan speaks of an ongoing process, that the piece is never really finished.  Saviana eagerly awaits opening night when she will see the result for the first time.

Martin Denton is moderator.

Episode links:

• Vicious Dogs on Premises on nytheatre.com
• Witness Relocation website
• Saviana Stanescu’s website
• Saviana Stanescu’s blog

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Steve Petrillo was recently part of a Directors Roundtable podcast, and suggested a roundtable with choreographers. We thought this was a great idea and so tune in to three established choreographers as they discuss aspects of this interesting artistic field.

Martin Denton is the host.  Steve leads Shea Sullivan and Stas’ Kmiec through some interesting topics.  The discussion is limited mostly to choreography of musical theatre. The three talk first about the audition process and often give examples from their own experience.  Steve leads the talk to the differences and similiarities of dancers when the three of them began and now. There is much to learn from the experiences of Steve, Shea, and Stas’ and Martin feels we have only begun to scratch the surface.

Episode Links:

• Shea Sullivan’s website 

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The episode begins with an excerpt from Bring Us the Head of Your Daughter, a new play from The Amoralists. This serves as a great introduction as to what the work of this company is like.  The actors are Jennifer Fouche and Deshja Driggs-Hall. The play is Part 2 of The Hey You Monster. (Part 1 is entitled Pokin the Bears In a Zoo). Each is a stand alone full length play currently produced in repertory.

Martin Denton is then joined by the founders of The Amoralists, Derek Ahonen, James Kautz, Matthew Pilieci, and David Levy-Horton. Exuberance and excitement abound as the four expound, enlighten, interrupt, and describe what The Hey You Monster is about, how and why they formed their theatre company, and what kind of theatre they are interested in producing. 

Listening you will learn that 1) yes, both plays are related; 2) yes, they reflect two sides of a common topic, and 3) yes, these guys share a very strong passion for what they do. And there’s an offer at the very end that will save you money on the price of a ticket.

Episode Links:

• Pokin the Bears In a Zoo on nytheatre.com
• Bring Us the Head of Your Daughter on nytheatre.com
• The Amoralists website 

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nytheatre.com is adding a new listings category — Physical Theatre.  You can find it on the left hand sidebar of every page under “Now Playing”. To introduce and explain, Martin Denton sat down with Mark Lonergan of Parallel Exit for a talk.

Mark founded the NYC Physical Theatre Network which has been the spearhead behind giving Physical Theatre its rightful place among the many genres we see in theatre today and has worked hard to see that people understand just what it is and why people should recognize its uniqueness (and in many ways, its sameness) to other types of theatre.

In response to a question by Martin, Mark concisely defined what should be included when one speaks of Physical Theatre.  It is typically story telling that primarily uses physical means.  It includes dance theatre, circus, vaudeville, mime, and even puppetry. 

Noting this definition is not enough to explain it, Mark continues with examples:  Movin’ Out and Contact, Jump; many works by companies such as Parallel Exit, bluemouth, etc. He talks at length about how difficult it is to put too firm a definition on this type of theatre, and explains how plays he really enjoys that are, perhaps, more traditional but are only involved with telling a story such as August: Osage County, would never be considered Physical Theatre.

Mark and Martin would be most interested in hearing your comments about this podcast and about nytheatre.com’s new feature that will help you find theatre that suits you best.  Please comment!

Episode Links:

• Physical Theatre on nytheatre.com
• NYC Physical Theatre network
• Parallel Exit website

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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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This is the second in a three part series to introduce the playwrights of Plays and Playwrights 2008.  Martin Denton is the editor of this volume and enjoys this chance to chat with four of the playwrights he has gotten to know so well while working on the book.  The four playwrights taking part in this episode are: Mac Rogers (Universal Robots), Robert Attenweiler (… and we all wore leather pants), Carolyn Raship (Antarctica), and John Regis (Linnea).

Each of the playwrights talks a bit about his/her play and gives interesting insights such as Mac believes Universal Robots is a mash-up of Capek’s RUR and events in Czechoslovakia in the time of Masaryk; Robert tells how … and we all wore leather pants combines a “white trash” ethos with magic realism; Carolyn reveals that Antarctica is inspired, in part, by the Norse version of the fairy tale, “Beauty and the Beast”; John talks of the autobiographical nature of Linnea.

There is also a great deal of background material in this episode about each of the authors and how they became playwrights. 

The episode ends with an invite to two upcoming free events (at the time the recording went live) – a reading/q&a hosted by Drama Book Shop on March 21 and a launch/party to be held at T. Schreiber Studio on April 3.

Episode Links:

• NYTE Small Press pages for Plays and Playwrights 2008 
• Storm Theatre website
• Disgraced Productions website
• Antarctica myspace page
• Mac Rogers’ blog
• Plays and Playwrights 2008 podcast #1 (Daniel Talbott, Crystal Skillman, Daniel Reitz)
• Free events for Plays and Playwrights 2008

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Bill C. Davis, author of Avow and Mass Appeal, among many others, joins Martin Denton for a discussion of political theatre.  Bill’s plays just about always touch on contemporary themes that affect all of us to some degree. 

In this spirited discussion there is much agreement between the two.  Martin questions why there is a lack of a pointed, pertinent dialogue between playwrights and the audience about the current political scene.  Bill notes several reasons why this may be so and goes on to gives some opinions as to why the current climate of apathy has come to be. 

Most interesting are Bill’s responses to Martin’s questioning as to what types of plays would Bill recommend to artistic directors to look for to produce in this upcoming election season.  Bill’s answers are quite exciting and makes the listener yearn for them to come true.  What a fascinating year it would be if these could be included.  Listen and see what you think.

Episode Links:

• Bill C. Davis’ website
• nytheatre.com review of The Sex King
• nytheatre.com review of Avow

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Kevin Augustine, master puppeteer, actor, director, joins Martin Denton to talk about his newest creation, Bride. Three years in the making, Bride evolved from a story of creation  in the Frankenstein vein to a story of the Creator, as in God.  Kevin has always been fascinated by “creation” because he creates when he takes a piece of foam and makes it into a puppet.  A brief synopsis of the story, Keven tells us, includes the true history of all the gods that preceded monotheism. 

Martin prods Keven to reveal fascinating history of how Keven became interested in puppets, how, as a solo performer, he morphed into working with puppets (’cause he was lonely), and how his Catholic family looks upon his latest endeavor.  And there’s more…

It’s a shame this podcast doesn’t have a video component because you should get a look at his tribe of puppets.  Visit his website for this.

Episode Links:

• Info about Bride on nytheatre.com
• Lone Wolf Tribe website

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