Do you wonder how some of the most active artists and arts educators are keeping busy and continuing to work through this Pandemic? Vocal coaches, dancers, directors, singers, actors, puppeteers, arts presenters, playwrights, songwriters, and others are all sitting at home trying to figure out a way to stay active and to contribute during this time when the city that never sleeps is forced to take a very long nap!
Join Sue Matsuki, an Urban Stages' alumni and the production manager of Winter Rhythms, as she conducts short interviews with notable artists that have been a part of our Urban Stages' family.
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A SPECIAL CHAT: |
Tony Award Winner Trezana Beverley & Drama Desk’s Sam Norkin Winner Mary Bacon sit down to discuss their roles as Eleanor Roosevelt and Alice Roosevelt. Playwright Ellen Abrams and director Frances Hill join to discuss "Eleanor and Alice | Conversations Between Two Remarkable Roosevelts" - a new radio play on urbanstages.org, available for free from March 19 to March 23! |
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BARA SWAIN , |
In this new interview with Bara Swain (scroll down for her first interview), Bara discusses how she challenged eight playwrights to write a monologue for a specific actor from a diverse acting pool, incorporating a quote from heroes and villains pulled from historical, fictional and comic book figures. An additional challenge was to reference another hero or villain in the script … or have one of these figures appear in the monologue! Eight directors were brought onboard to direct and record the monologue using any video platform. |
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PEDRO SANTOS , |
Pedro Santos (director) is a Portuguese actor and director. Since moving to London in 2017, he graduated from Middlesex University (BA, Theatre Arts) and became a member of the National Youth Theatre. Subsequently, Pedro has worked with various emerging and established theatre companies in Portugal, the UK and Rome. During the lockdown, he has been directing for virtual platforms, including That Old Philosophical Question by Pearl D’souza (Making Waves Theatre Company, London, UK), and the New York performances of The Ultimate Battle for the Total Control of the Entire Universe by Rich Orloff, Responsible by Bara Swain, and The Maltese Walter by John Minigan (Greenhouse Ensemble’s Quarantine Soiree). He can be found on all social media.
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CHRISTIAN HAINES (DIRECTOR) & SASCHA VANDERSLIK (ACTRESS): |
Christian Haines (director) is the founding Artistic Director of AmiosNYC and ShotzSF in San Francisco. Directing credits: Ripcord (Altarena), Bus Stop, Boeing Boeing, The Games Afoot (RVP), The Guys (Pear) Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (Tides), A Message (Arabian Shakes), Heroes and Other Strangers (Best of Fringe NYC) and a ton of short plays. He holds an MFA in acting from the National Theatre Conservatory. https://christianbhaines.wordpress.com
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LYNN PETERSEN (DIRECTOR) and STEFANIE LEKKAS (ACTRESS): |
Lynn Petersen (director) is an educator who is passionate about using drama and theatre to connect people to ideas, knowledge and each other. Lynn uses drama to deepen students’ understanding about themselves and the world. As a theatre practitioner she loves performing in long-form improvised projects and directing scripted works. She likes taking the challenge to break down barriers between different art forms. You can see her latest collaborative project “Something Quirky This Way Comes” at canfelt.org.au/exhibition
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SANDRA DALEY-SHARIF (PLAYWRIGHT) and NJ AGWUNA (DIRECTOR): |
Sandra Daley-Sharif (playwright) is an Afro-Caribbean artist living in Harlem. She has earned her merits over twenty years as an OBIE Award-winning producer, award-winning playwright, director, actress, and dramaturg. Sandra is a recipient of the Josephine Abady Award, commending her for her contribution, as a producer, of Diversity to the American theatre landscape. She teaches Playwriting and Acting at Sarah Lawrence College. Not one, but two of her plays made it to the Kilroys List 2017. www.SandraDaley.com
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SCOTT C. SICKLES , |
Scott C. Sickles(director) is an LGBTQ/biracial Asian American writer whose plays have been performed in New York City, across the U.S., and internationally. Smith & Kraus monologue anthologies include excerpts from Intellectuals, Composure, Lightning From Heaven, and Thalassa. Also for Urban Stages: Hand on Heart and Bridge of No Return. Other monologues include: Time, Magic, and Antoinette; Between the Surf and the Stars; This is Not a Touch Exhibit; End of a Long, Long Day. www.Scottcsickles.com
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KRISTAN SEEMEL, |
KRISTAN SEEMEL (director, Bars and Measures) grew up in the theater working on new plays, serving as dramaturg on a score of premiere productions and developmental workshops in Portland, Oregon where he worked for almost a decade. He is passionate about new writing and his directing projects include the recent premieres of HYPE MAN by Idris Goodwin, Mary-Kate Olsen is in Love by Mallery Avidon and The Electric Lighthouse by Ed Himes (all at The Flea). Other new plays Kristan has directed include MUTT by Lava Alapai (Many Hats Collective) and The Verspiary by Matthew Zrebski (Stark Raving Theatre) as well as NW regional premieres of Carlos Murillo’s Mimesophobia (Sand & Glass Productions), The Long Christmas Ride Home by Paula Vogel (TheatreVertigo) and Mac Wellman’s A Murder of Crows (defunkt theatre). Kristan also assisted on the recent Flea premieres of NSangou Njikam’s Syncing Ink and A. R. Gurney’s Ajax. Recent favorite revivals include Bad Penny by Mac Wellman (The Flea), Brecht & Weill’s The Threepenny Opera and Hamlet (CoHo Productions). Kristan’s staging of Gertrude Stein’s Doctor Faustus Lights the Lights (defunkt theatre) garnered him a Portland Dramatic Critics Circle award for Outstanding Direction. In New York, Kristan has developed new plays at Playwrights Horizons/Clubbed Thumb (Superlab), the Lark and Target Margin Theater. He is an Associate Artist at Tribeca’s own Flea Theater and a graduate of the Brown/Trinity Rep MFA. |
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CHRISTIAN ELDER, |
CHRISTIAN ELDER is a writer & filmmaker with a background in the visual arts. He is a quarterfinalist screenwriter with the Academy's Nicholl Fellowships, a finalist for Tribeca Film Institute's Tribeca All Access, and an International Thomas Wolfe Playwriting semifinalist for #Nword. He has directed two short films, including the award winning The Big Meet (aired on DirecTV's ShortsTV). He has been honored with staged play readings for Frank Silvera's Writers' Workshop at Brooklyn's Billie Holiday Theatre and Manhattan's Urban Stages. Presently, he lives in Los Angeles, California. |
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RUTH ZAMOYTA, |
RUTH ZAMOYTA is a NJ State Council on the Arts playwriting fellow. She has had productions and readings at Urban Stages, Mile Square Theatre, Luna Stage Co., Art House Productions, and Jersey City Theatre Center. Her plays The Caregivers and The Fencers were semifinalists for the Bay Area Playwrights Festival and The Caregivers was given special consideration for the Relentless Award. Her play The Incels was chosen for the INKubator program at Art House Productions in 2018-19 and is currently being developed by The New Jersey Play Lab www.njplaylab.org in 2020 through its comprehensive Residency Program. |
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MEGAN LOUGHRAN, |
MEGAN LOUGHRAN is a writer, actor, and singer based in New York City. She was the Executive Producer and Head Writer of BROADWAY DOES MOTHER'S DAY which aired this past spring on Broadway.com. Her play F THEORY, co-written with Alex Trow, world premiered at the New Jersey Repertory Theatre. As an improviser, Megan performed with the Chicago City Limits National Touring Company, and is the winner of the Champions' Edition of NYC’s Cabaret Showdown. Also a singer-actor, Megan performed in the National Tour of FALSETTOS, directed by James Lapine, as well as SWEENEY TODD with the New York Philharmonic, starring Emma Thompson. Graduate of Yale University. MeganLoughran.com |
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TOM TOCE |
Tom Toce is a New York City-based songwriter, active in the musical theater and cabaret genres. A compilation of his work “Hopelessly in Love: The Lyrics of Tom Toce”, enjoyed an extended run at the fabled Metropolitan Room in New York, and featured the talents of cabaret stars Carole J. Bufford, Jack Donahue, and Jennifer Sheehan. Tom’s song “Shalom, Santa,” with music by Douglas J. Cohen, won the 2014 MAC Award for Best Comedy Song. To read his full bio go to: tomtocemusic.com |
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TREZANA BEVERLEY |
Trezana Beverley is an American Tony Award-winning actress, director, playwright and teacher. She received an BFA in Acting from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. She was the first African-American actress to receive a Tony Award for "Best Featured Actress in a Play" (for the 1977 Broadway play For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide / When the Rainbow Is Enuf), having previously shared a cast Obie Award and winning a Theatre World Award for the off-Broadway production. For more information please visit: CLICK HERE |
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JANICE GERLACH |
Janice Gerlach is Urban Stages’ found object puppetry teacher and has done Facebook Live videos for Urban Stages’ Outreach in the past months. She also acts in a bunch of our touring kids plays, visiting many, many libraries. Janice is a Brooklyn-based puppeteer, actress, and artist. She received her MFA in Acting from the New School for Drama and has been performing and teaching with Urban Stages Outreach for the past five years. In addition to facilitating puppetry and mask making workshops throughout all five boroughs, she designed and built all twelve puppets for Outreach's The Mystery of the Twelve Curious Cousins and wrote the script for Kitty in the City: A Sound Along, both public library touring puppet show. To read her full bio please visit: www.janicegerlach.com/ |
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CAREN CALDER |
Caren Calder is Urban Stages’ African Dance teacher. She's been performing with Urban Stages’ Outreach since 2010, and recently put out a couple online classes for us. She teaches with her daughter Crystal, a drummer. |
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BARA SWAIN |
Bara Swain’s plays and monologues have been performed across the country in more than 175 venues in 25 states and abroad. Honors include Heideman Award Finalist, Aboard the Guy V. Molinari; City Theatre National Award Finalist for Short Playwriting for Extraordinary and The Hotel Lobbyist; and, by special invitation from Burt Reynolds, An Evening With Bara Swain, BRIFT, Jupiter, Florida, directed by The Bandit. |
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RODERICK LAWRENCE |
This Broadway, off-Broadway and regional theater leading man, singer and musician came to Urban Stages to audition for a new play called Bars and Measures and was immediately cast in what went on to be a NY Times highly acclaimed play. Today, he chats with Sue about his career, his hopes for the future and how he is currently trying to make his way back to New York to continue to act. He is also available to coach monologues:www.facebook.com/lawrence.rod |
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RICHARD SKIPPER CELEBRATES |
2020 is marking Richard Skipper's 41st year in New York. He is an entertainer, raconteur, arts advocate, theater historian and promotions/marketing guru. Under the guise of Richard Skipper Celebrates, he has conducted over 700 interviews celebrating people in the arts. Recent interviews have included Joyce Bulifant, Linda Purl, Don Most, Melissa Manchester, Lesley Ann Warren, Loretta Swit, Tippi Hedren, Rich Little, and David France, author of "How To Survive A Plague,” Patty Farmer, author of "Starring the Plaza" and "Playboy Laughs." |
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CORINNA SOWERS ADLER |
Corinna Sowers Adler is a six-time nominee for the first ever Tony Award for Excellence in Theater Education. She made her solo New York City cabaret debut in 2010 at the Laurie Beechman Theater in “Stories…A Cabaret“. Since then Ms. Sowers Adler has been in high demand as a singer, performing solo shows at Stage 72 at the Triad, the legendary Duplex Cabaret, Feinstein’s at Loews Regency, Metropolitan Room, and 54 Below. She was honored to premiere her solo show, “Something Beautiful” this past November in the majestic Appel Room. |
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LINA KOUTRAKOS |
The first interview in the series! Award-winning singer, director, songwriter, recording artist, teacher, producer and Covid-19 Survivor Lina Koutrakos is a NYC icon and a leader in the Cabaret Community. She is now teaching on-line classes and is offering one-on-one directorial sessions across the country. |
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DAVID SABELLA (Part 1&2) |
Broadway Star (Chicago), singer, actor, writer (Author of So You Want to Sing Cabaret) and world-renowned counter tenor and opera singer, David Sabella is internationally recognized as a Master Teacher in Musical Theater and Contemporary Commercial Music Vocal Techniques. David served as the Executive Director of The Broadway Theatre Project as well as the President of NYSTA (The NY Singing Teacher’s Association). David is also one of the most sought-after vocal coaches and vocal technicians here in New York and is now teaching on-line classes and one-on-one sessions across the country. |
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HAROLD SANDITEN HAROLD SANDITEN |
Singer, cabaret emcee, recording artist, raconteur, entertainment journalist and theatre producer, Harold Sanditen has show business running through his veins. A regular at top London cabaret haunt, Crazy Coqs, where he hosts their longest running show, his smash hit, Harold Sanditen’s Open Mic Party, he is one of the biggest presences on the London cabaret scene as well as in North America and beyond. Harold’s Open Mic is now a virtual Open Mic every other Thursday. The next ones are scheduled for June 4th, June 18th and July 2nd. To receive a Zoom link, send an email to: open.mic.at.crazy.coqs@gmail.com. |
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ILANNA SALTZMAN |
Currently working as the Program Director of Outreach, as an arts educator and grant writer for Urban Stages, Ilanna Saltzman was previously a teaching artist and director. She produces, programs and organizes all of Urban Stages' Outreach department – The Summer Theater Camp, Residencies and Touring Shows. These programs offer primarily free theater shows and arts workshops to libraries across New York City. She also works with artists to create new works and has headed programming for Adult Literacy Centers and after school programs. To read more about Ilanna and the Urban Stages’ team please visit: HERE |
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BERNIE FURSHPAN |
As the Executive Producer for an on-line talent agency and production company (Metropolitan Zoom), Booking Director for The Triad Theater, Comedy Producer (NY Hysterical Society), concert promotions (Big Fish Productions), The Guinness World Record Holder for the longest Variety Show in 2015 performed at the club that he managed (The Metropolitan Room) and as a marketing and branding consultant (Furshpan Associates), Bernie Furshpan is fast becoming the trailblazer on how to preform in the age of this Pandemic. He is currently offering Webinars on promotion, equipment use, virtual pop-up clubs, marketing and branding. For more information please visit: www.MetropolitanZoom.com |