Common Ground, the new musical by Granville Wyche Burgess and Stan Wietrzychowsk, tells the yet-untold story of what really necessitated the Emancipation Proclamation. This special book-in-hand presentation, will be Monday, December 9 at 7:00 p.m. at The Actors Temple, 339 West 47th Street, NYC. Common Ground begins with a veiledly racist President Lincoln, carrying a country-at-war on his back, deliberating on how to make peace with his foes and forge an alliance with the formidable Frederick Douglass. Douglass, a literate, courageous “Moses” to his people, must show President Lincoln a new realty.

This is a “manly” story with two masculine forces etching our history. But – as the musical displays – the wives of these two statesmen played an integral role. Miranda Luze creates the role of Mary Todd Lincoln, a woman who – historically – was fraught with her own conflict.

Miranda, by her own admission, is a crazy-busy artist, forging her own career on stage and as an arts producer. So to grab-hold of an historic character trying to hold together a country and herself may have even been cathartic to play.

Tell us about yourself as an artist

I am a theatre artist spinning a lot of plates. I’m actor/singer busy auditioning and doing gigs around the city. I also co-founded a non-profit theatre company with some college alumni called Thousand Faced Theatre. We started the company because we all had a passion for new theatre and wanted to be more involved in it. This keeps me busy year round performing, directing, and producing new/original work. I’m also a voice teacher! @miranduhluzer/www.mirandaluze.com 

Do you feel an added sense of responsibility when handling a piece of history like this? 

Yes, it is very difficult to even act like some of this dialogue isn’t uncomfortable. However, it is important to tell these stories because treating people poorly based on our differences is till one of the most prevalent topics in our society. 

Tell us about a staged reading … pros cons

The reading is an important look at the political process during one of the most important times in history. It shows you how imperfect everything was when trying to give people basic human rights. Seems familiar. 😉 

The con is you don’t get to see the whole show! 

What’s next

Thousand Faced Theatre is producing some amazing new theatre in the next few months that I’m incredibly excited about! Make sure to follow us @thousandfacedtheatre to stay updated! 

Common Ground, the new musical by Granville Wyche Burgess and Stan Wietrzychowsk, tells the yet-untold story of what really necessitated the Emancipation Proclamation. This special book-in-hand presentation, will be Monday, December 9 at 7:00 p.m. at The Actors Temple, 339 West 47th Street, NYC. Common Ground begins with a veiledly racist President Lincoln, carrying a country-at-war on his back, deliberating on how to make peace with his foes and forge an alliance with the formidable Frederick Douglass. Douglass, a literate, courageous “Moses” to his people, must show President Lincoln a new realty.

This is a “manly” story with two masculine forces etching our history. But – as the musical displays – the wives of these two statesmen played an integral role. Aviana Rivera creates the role of Ann, Frederick Douglass’ wife. Creates is the right word. As little is known of her. Aviana’s creative ground is fertile for interpretation.

We wanted to speak with her about her role and her role in the arts.

Tell us about yourself as an artist

I have just recently decided to ascend into the professional world of theatre and it was the best decision I ever made. I grew up in a household that moved around all of the time, so in my travels I’ve had the opportunity to meet, understand, and observe people in their different ways of life. So as an artist, I find that it is my duty to constantly try and understand people to their fullest capacity and use that knowledge to help me best portray characters truthfully. 

Do you feel an added sense of responsibility when handling apiece of history like this?

I definitely feel an added sense of responsibility when handling a piece like this. Not only because it’s based on such an important part of American history, but also because of the weight it still holds in our modern American society. The problems that are evident in this piece still affect our society today and it’s interesting to explore and play upon those parallels in order to create a sense of catharsis that anyone can relate to, or in the very least empathize with. 

Tell us about a staged reading … pros cons

I would say the pros of doing a staged reading versus a full production would be it’s easier for the audience to focus on the words and emotions the actors are trying to portray. Once you get into a full production, the glitz and glam of the lights, costumes, and special effects has the potential to overshadow the playwrights work. On the other hand, I would also say that the con of doing a stage reading would have to be for the very same reason. That same glitz and glam, if done correctly, could emphasize the playwrights work in the best way possible and really bring the piece the life it might need.

The company for this presentation features Kalonjee Gallimore as Frederick Douglass; Dan Pavacic as Abraham Lincoln, with Aviana Rivera, Miranda Luze, Maurio Brown, Brenden MacDonald, Hannah Bonnett and Steven M. Singer as John Wilkes Booth. Reservations are required for this event. Contact Liz Cope at JMAE.events@gmail.com or call 347-497-4814

The Playful Substance Company prepares for their most ambitious season … ever, beginning with “Shelter In Place” premiering as part of Fringe BYOV. The first production of the PSC. season, “Shelter In Place,” written and directed by Raphael Perahia, began as a part of the PSC Writers Group. Performing Under St Marks, 94 St. Marks Place. Between 1st Avenue & A Avenue on October 24, 25, 26, 31; November 1, and 2. All performances at 7:30 pm. When the fire alarm goes off in Jahoose’s Adult Education Drawing class (Mondays at 4:00pm) and the FDNY issues a mysterious command to “Shelter In Place”, five misfits realize that they have become more invested in one another’s lives than they ever expected. The powerful new work features Rahoul Roy, Dan Kellmer, Megan Greener,* Nicole Amaral and Brandon Fox. Shelter in Place is part of the 2019 FringeBYOV. Further info located at https://fringenyc.org/basic_page.php?ltr=S

Playful Substance 2019-2020 season continues with a new play by Lauren Lindsey White and a revival of “Still We Grow: An Immersive Theatrical Journey to Fight Human Trafficking” from the company’s acclaimed Good Works Series. “Still We Grow” is an immersive human journey to fight human trafficking. The production will benefit LifeWay Network, a local organization that provides housing and support for female survivors of Human Trafficking. The PSC will host an educational program of a series of one day workshops for collaborators on different aspects of craft. Director Development programs that will run in tandem with our Writers’ Groups; readings of new works-in-development (from the P.S.C. Writers’ Groups) will be presented. The PSC Writers Groups Fall Session developing new works from a group of eight participating writers and PSC’s annual networking event – “The Pithy Party” – will conclude the season. Party gifts are part of the fun at the event, so all guests see the plays-in-development and leave with a handful of “playful substances.” Visit playfulsubstance.com.

At the helm of this deeply philanthropic organization is the effervescent Bree O’Connor.

By the artwork of her company’s latest showing, one can see that the joy one SHOULD have from creating art is evident in her.

It is people like Ms. O’Connor who “GETS IT.” They understand the educational and cathartic elements of the arts and foster them with the plays. Maybe that’s because she built a family with her company.

DQR wanted to take a moment and get some words from her on her company and her work.

Tell us about yourself as an artist?

Bree O’Connor in her solo show “Gee, I Hope You Have Fun at My Mom’s Death” presented as part of our Woman’s Work solo festival in July 2019.

I am an actor, writer, director, producer, Circle in the Square Theater School graduate, member of the LAByrinth Intensive Ensemble (2014), and mother of three. 

What was the inspiration behind Playful Substance

The gang at a developmental reading of “Shelter in Place”. Pictured: Rahoul Roy, Raphael Perahia, Ron Phippen, Megan Greener, Dan Kellmer, Laura Sisskin Fernandez, Lauren Lindsey White, Rocky Vega, Jaqueline Reason, Foster Stevenson and Bree O’Connor

I had children “New York early” (meaning young for New York but not for anywhere else in the country) and found myself isolated from artistic outlets and community for well over a decade. Playful Substance is my attempt to be the person I needed during my artistic exile. Everyone who is willing to put in the work should have access to a creative life, should have access to support and community. 

Seems you have a strong mission to educate. All areas or is there a focus?

I consider myself a facilitator as opposed to an educator. I started with writers because I have written something almost every day of my life since I was 7 or 8 years old. After some of my work started to get noticed, people kept asking me to look at their scripts. I was spending so much time reading and giving notes that it occurred to me that offering some writers’ programming could be the basis on which to build the company I have been thinking about for nearly 20 years. I started the Writers’ Groups, hoping to gain some support and accountability for my own work while also providing the same for other Writers and things have grown from there. In addition to starting an annual works-in-progress reading party, called “Pithy Party”, our Writers’ Groups also fuel our full productions. The intention is for that relationship to continue. Not every project that comes out of Writers’ Group can be a Playful Substance show (we don’t have the funding or manpower for that!) but we can offer developmental and practical support for writers who want to self produce and also try to pass along industry information about opportunities for writers as they come our way. 

Rehearsal for “Shelter In Place” written and directed by Raphael Perahia. Pictured Left to Right: Megan Greener, Dan Kellmer, Rahoul Roy and Brandon Fox

As we grow, so will our artist development programs. This year we hope to add a Director Development component to the work we do as well as some short term workshops for collaborators to explore their relationships to one another and to different aspects of the medium. 

I have always been interested in developing new work. Certainly, it is exciting to watch something go from an idea to finished project, but I find that companies who spend this kind of time together tend to find their own language, their own way of being in the world, their own unique voice and way of working together and THAT is what truly excites me. I am hoping that if we create a group that is focused on creating something that is specific to US that we might unlock some secret together. What that secret is? I have no idea. But the journey sounds like fun and the thought of having a soft place to land makes me feel better prepared to take more risks.

What do you look for in terms of members for your Writers Group? 

I don’t have any criteria other than, “Do you want to do the work?”. Sometimes they think they do, but they really don’t. That’s cool. The work isn’t for everyone and that can be a valuable lesson in and of itself. But I DO believe that everyone has a story of value, a voice that deserves to be heard. If you want to put in the time, you can improve. If you can observe, if you can listen, if you can practice, you can become a better writer… a better artist. If you can challenge yourself to be honest with YOURSELF, and open with your audience, then you can create something transcendent. But that all starts with a willingness to sit down and write… and then share it.

“SAHM’s Club” by Bree O’Connor directed by Jill DeArmon for FRIGID 2017 Pictures: Kaili Y. Turner, Kim Rios Lin, Nicol Moeller, Megan Greener, Ron Phippen, Jamie Klassel

How do you measure success?

At this point, I am happy that I have collaborators who keep saying “yes”. We are still a very young company and so we have a few years of hard audience development work ahead of us, but the artists keep showing up and they keep coming back for more. Right now that feels like success. Being able to offer more opportunities for artists, that would feel like the next level. We are working toward the day when everyone will get paid more than subway fare and snacks and audiences have enough of a relationship with us that they LOOK for us. But until then, bringing people together in a room to breathe the same air and share the same experience and maybe even be moved in some way that makes them slightly different than they were the moment before the lights went down… THAT sounds like real success.

What’s next? 

Our second full season begins with “Shelter In Place” by Raphael Perahia (one of our original Writers’ Group members) runs  October 24 – 26th and October 31 – November 2nd at Under St Marks Theater. In November we will be offering a short term workshop for writers to explore scene study from an actor’s perspective. In Winter 2020, Playful Substance will take on a new piece by Lauren Lindsey White (also, original Writers’ Group member) and put up a workshop production. Our Writers’ Groups continue through June. There will be a Good Works Series Project (a project we do in partnership with a local charity- details to come), more workshops and readings and our season closes with our third annual Pithy Party in June.  

Dana Block is doing a one-man show.

Nope, we meant to use “man.” As her show is about one man … her brother, Marc.

MONKEY MAN, showing Saturday, November 2 @ 7:30 p.m., is part of the 10th annual UNITED SOLO THEATRE FESTIVAL on Theatre Row, 410 West 42nd Street, New York City. Tickets: https://www.telecharge.com/Off-Broadway/United-Solo-Theatre-Festival-2019/Overview.

Marc hitchhiked across America, calling himself a Highway Man: “I tell my stories to drivers, keep ’em awake at night.” This show is constructed from the brilliant, stream-of-consciousness rants and graphic cartoons Marc made in a diary as he jumped from ride to ride, sleeping on the side of the road, begging for food. He attempted to stay in reality but his mental illness led him further and further down a rabbit hole. “He tried to reason his way out,” Dana says, “finding tunnels, underpasses, crosscuts, but none of it led him back to home.”

Dana Block takes the stage to offer a rare insight into the mind of mental illness. “This subject is still so stigmatized and full of shame,” Block says. “People come to me after the show and open up. It touches so many peoples’ hidden-away griefs.”

Dana’s bravery did not go unnoticed here at D-Q-Reviews. We wanted a moment with the one-woman about her one-man show.

Tell us about yourself as an artist, Dana Lee Block

It all started when I was a kid. From day one, when there was anything musical or theatrical happening in town, the Blocks were first responders.  We were the Barrymore’s of Community Theater in the cow heart of a redneck cow town in central Missouri. So I come by it naturally.  Mom was also a painter and known for her Andy Warhol style painted toilet seats, and pop-up murals, which she produced on people’s walls at late night parties.  My father loved Shakespeare, performing monologues for the family all the time; he eventually became a professional Actor and Director in Kansas City.

I’ve always loved to perform and have taken every opportunity to be in a show, through High School and College.  I wanted serious Actor Training, which I got from Michael Howard, NYC, SUNY Purchase Conservatory Training Program, and earned an MFA at The Academy For Classical Acting with Michael Kahn and The Shakespeare Theater Co., George Washington University, Washington, D.C. in 2011.

I’ve always loved to act in any kind of repertory, be it Classical or Contemporary, LOVE working in an ensemble situation. I have always wanted to be part of a repertory theater company and do all sorts of roles.  That was my dream, but unfortunately it never happened.  So I started to write my own shows so I could star in super fun, funny and dramatic and interesting roles (and that is why I got so much training: so I could have the best possible skills and theatrically realize my visions). I also realized that I had a lot to say and write about, and that I liked making choices in all aspects of production. It seems to me that this is as close as I can get to really being an artist. 

I have written and performed 4 one-woman shows and a full-length play:

• “La Vache Sauvage” or “The Wild Cow,” a cow escapes the butcher’s knife and runs through the French countryside for two days, but her big bell gives her away.
• “My Hair Piece” –- a post-partum/slightly savage Tequila-drenched romp with Richard Gere in a Mexican restaurant;
• “Queen Kong” – Leni Riefenstahl, turning 103, sets out to do a remake of the Kong epic with a female black Kong, casting herself as the Afro’d Kong, to prove once and for all that she is not nor never was, a racist, despite being Hitler’s personal propaganda filmmaker.
• “Monkey Man” – about my brother’s schizophrenia.
• “The Art of Dentistry” – a full length Comedy starring a mad female dentist, Dr. Dragga Salvation, who wants to be the first person to successfully clone and implant, living human tooth clones.

Was life with your brother difficult? 

I was extremely close to my little brother, we are only two years apart.  As kids, we were together all of the time, playing football and running around the neighborhood. I protected him and I got him into trouble, depending on my mood, but he was mine.  I don’t remember that much about middle school.  In High School, everything seemed normal and although people have told me recently that they thought him strange or weird at that time, I wasn’t aware of it.  Our whole family was regarded as a little oddball, because we were so artistic and intellectual amidst an otherwise quiet farming and business community.  It wasn’t until Marc’s final year of High School that I began to see changes in him.  But what I saw was confusing more than anything.  We had been experimenting with drugs- weed mostly- and we were used to acting crazy and laughing at each other’s behavior.  When Marc began to manifest bi-polar schizophrenia, he became aggressive and non-sensical.  We would sometimes wake up to a house that had been completely re-arranged by him- one day all the kitchen linoleum had been torn up and the refrigerator was humming away in the middle of the living room.  I also remember that Marc used to steal dad’s car and drive out of town all the time, and that my father had to talk the cops into letting him go free when they found him stalled out on the side of the road.  Dad would always go and rescue Marc, bring him home, quiz him and try to make sense of what Marc was thinking. I remember how deeply saddened my parents were.  It pretty much did them in.  Really, all of us withdrew from the community, and while my parents lived their lives out there, pretty isolated in their grief, I and my sisters left for college and life in other cities.  My parents were desperate to figure out a way to help Marc, they tried mega-vitamin treatment, hospitilzation, my father put him in business selling musical instruments, they took him to the Mayo Clinic… nothing worked.  They were not able to help him and he eventually hitchhiked out of town, calling himself a “Highway Man” and he never returned.

What made you write about him?

It seems to me that because the Block home was so filled with art and theater that it was entwined with Marc’s mental illness and how he expressed himself as it changed him into a different being. He wrote notebooks and notebooks full of theories, dialogues, essays, rants, diatribes, and he drew hilarious cartoons of what he called “small character humans.” After Marc left home, all of his material sat on a shelf.  I always knew it was there but didn’t pay attention to it.  And then one day, I started to look at what was there, and wow, I was blown away.  I felt I’d found a treasure trove and a key to him, and I wanted to show his brilliance and originality to others.  So I pieced together about 10 selections from the hundreds of things he wrote and I created “Monkey Man”, which does contain some of his writing verbatim.  Some of the other stories I created are derived from his material.

In creating this piece, did it bring you more insight into your brother or possibly some form of closure? 

That’s a good question, a great question.  There will never be closure.  I continue to mourn the imagined life that I think he could have lived, but all the while I know this was his destiny.  I love performing this piece and the first part of the show contains stories of when we were kids together, and these stories are hilarious (I built these from some of his writing and also, photos and momentos) – we got into all kinds of hi-jinx-=- it’s almost like I can experience our innocent lives again;  the second half of this 55-minute show is darker and leads to a mental and spiritual space of deep loss, and that is painful.  I think every time I perform, I get a little closer to the truth, and a little closer to him, so I thrive on it.  Marc is still alive and presently lives in a motel room in Mesquite, Nevada. I have never told him that I have written this solo show about him.

Do you imagine telling your story in a more elaborated form (longer play) or something more widespread (film)? 

Yes, I’d like to do add about 30 minutes to this stage version and wow, I’d love to turn this into a film. I think that the source material, Marc’s writings and drawings, is so pure, and that it offers a very rare insight into a sort of Cubist reality of a mental world. Also, much of this story is rooted in an experience of being artistic and Jewish in a small Mid-western town, and this tale in itself, is film-worthy. I recently returned to St. Joseph, Mo. to perform “MM” at the Robidoux Repertory Theater Co., which is now in residence at my old Synagogue.  Yes, I performed this show in my old Synagogue in St. Joe.!  Over 200 people attended, including a handful of octogenarian Jewish people, the last Jews still living in St. Joe—they all came out to find out what had become of Marc Block. In our small town of 70,000 people, 800 Jews were like family, we all knew everything about each other.  What was a tragedy for our family was also a tragedy for the community.   We got a lot of publicity in the papers and on radio for this show in St. Joe. The response of my old friends and family, was stupendous, very thought-provoking and somewhat healing.  It helped me to see different perspectives of Marc, because many people knew him and had anecdotes.  I would like to make the story of going back home and doing a show about my brother, part of this show. The storyline could encompass the idea that an actress returns home to perform a show about her hometown and her brother’s mental illness and face down some demons.  I think this would work very well for film!

What’s next? 

I will finish editing my full-length play, “The Art of Dentistry” and get a reading of it.  Then I will submit it to festivals for production.  Also I am working on a show about Women of the West.  And of course, as always, auditioning and looking for acting work.  In the trenches. J

UNITED SOLO THEATRE FESTIVAL is an annual international festival for solo performances held in New York City. Through a variety of one-person shows, the Festival explores and celebrates the uniqueness of the individual. Its audiences see one-person performances from all over the world, experience foreign cultures and traditions, and learn the perspectives of people from various walks of life.

—

Photographers, Videographers, Assistants, and their Subjects present a complete outpouring of their entire vision. What makes it to the gallery, to the screen, or to the theater?

Marcina Zaccaria’s All About Image/We Are The Elite directed by Tony Tambasco; Part of the New York International Fringe Festival (FringeBYOV) at The Kraine Theater, 85 E 4th St, New York City on October 3 @ 7:00; October 4 @ 7:00; October 5 @ 5:15; October 6 @ 5:30

A drama written in the present time, taking place in New York City and other parts of the US, All About Image/ We Are The Elite takes us on a journey of the people who make images. In the process of capturing and making images, the characters explore their personal relationships, while re-affirming their aesthetic principles. With attention to memory, consciousness, and place in time, action occurs and re-occurs. Quiet and stillness are values.

“Actors speak in vignettes, coordinated with static and moving images. The play is inspired by the Cinematograph and early photographic techniques, with video projected near the actors moving in different rhythms,” says Playwright Marcina Zaccaria.

In All About Image/ We are the Elite, in monologues and dialogues, revelations are within their grasp. Are they always in the process of creating something that is greater than what’s on a page, what’s in the photo gallery, and what’s on the screen?

We grabbed Marcina Zaccaria for a few words on a lot of pictures!

This play is about those who make the visuals, correct? 

If Women Rose Rooted-Review by D-Q-Reviews lead writer,  Jen Bush

Artistic endeavors that focus on female empowerment are more necessary than ever in the current climate that exists in our world.  If Women Rose Rooted made a valiant effort to provide that in the play.  Melissa Mowry and Jessica Fichter bring us a show that is described as, “a piece that explores femininity and culture through the wisdom shared by those who came before us, and through our experiences today.”

If Women Rose Rooted chose the path of a groundbreaking new art form known as a devised play.  This is an organic collaborative effort that begins with a theme which is then explored and fleshed out by the actors along with the other integral creative staff.  The script comes later.  It’s a loosely structured living piece of theater that will likely change slightly with each performance.

The show succeeded in clearly delivering the plight of women.  Through mostly quotes in lieu of dialogue and passionate acting. there was clearly depicted pain, power, transformation and empowerment.  The costumes were simple, neutral and well suited to their wearers.

The cast consisted of Marcella Adams, Titania Galliher, Lucy Lewis and Jessica Panora.  Two are graduates of and two are pursuing their MFA’s from the prestigious Actors Studio.  They were all lovely strong actors committed to their roles.  Titania Galliher was a very graceful dancer.    In the handbill, the cast of 4 were not assigned to specific roles and I don’t recall hearing their names during the show so it’s challenging to elaborate about their characters.

I would caution, this is not a show for the average theater goer who expects a traditional show with a clearly defined and linear script.    All the elements of traditional theater were present such as dialogue, dance and music but the execution was its own entity.  At times I felt as if I was watching an improv/acting/dance/movement class in progress.  I admit that I was confused about what I was watching in terms of a story.  I took some time to read and listen to interviews with the cast and creative team to try to gain further insight into what they were attempting to do.  This show is still a work in progress.  It has great potential based on the description of the show and the important themes included in the show.  If I saw it in the future, I would like to see a rich depiction of the Otherworld where the fairies live and the 4 female goddesses that these characters are supposed to embody.  I want to see the pivotal moment when the queen of the fairies calls to women of the world to give them the gift of wisdom.  The concept of this show is very exciting.  I think a lot more can be done with it to make it accessible to a wider audience base.

Oft-featured performance artist, Mary Elizabeth Micari, embarks on Part II of her auto-biographical, musical journey of self-discovery. Thanks to the “emo-90s” she has tunes to tackle her [first] marriage and her exploration into spirituality. She has enlisted MAC Award winner, Tracy Stark, to collaborate on the score and classical harpist, Richard Spendio, plus rock drummer, John Dinello, to spice the sound. “Don’t mess with success” said Dinello, when we mentioned her return to the East Village go-to club, Pangea. “We are opening with Lorena McKennit’s All Soul’s Night! Great compilation of songs!” replied Richard Spendio on social media.

The Lady in Black 2: Between the Sun and the Moon, premieres at Pangea, 178 2nd Ave in NYC, on Saturday October 26, 2019 at 9:30 PM.
http://www.pangeanyc.com/show/mary-micari-lady-in-black-2-between-the-sun-and-the-moon-930pm/

Mary has quickly become member-emeritus of our women in the arts series. This time, we’ll span our questions over a three-part series about what it takes to create a sustaining and entertaining act in NYC cabaret and night clubs.

Your Lady in Black series is semi-autobiographical. What’s the message of this one? 

My shows don’t have a specific message per se.  They are just what they are.  I am not out to do anything to make a statement.  I guess if there is one to be had its more about how we are all vulnerable and alive and life’s fucking hard.  Its also a bit about finding that one need not look very far or outside one’s self to find fulfillment.  Its inside all of us…the divine.

Tell us about YOU – the artist, entrepreneur, the woman.

This could take a year! I am a singer, actress, director, producer and all that based on my work in that area of my life.  I teach voice. I also have studied healing like Herbalism, Reiki, Aromatherapy, Sound and Music healing and much more.  I am a witch. Or as some like to say I am a Goddess Centered Pagan/Wiccan.  I read tarot, do astrology readings, magic and spells for others.  I do ritual and have a podcast on witchcraft.  I also teach the craft, astrology, tarot, herbalism and all the rest. 

These are based on diaries and journals – What’s it like telling your life story out there? 

Mary chatting with music legend, Marilyn Maye, after Mary’s last “Lady” showing

It is pretty easy for me.  I find that the audience really is wanting that from performers. Even if I were playing a role not me, I would be using my own life to create the emotion of the character.  When I first asked the audience if they wanted me to read from my diaries on stage at the last show the answer was a loud, “YES”! People hide themselves so much now.  Social media is full of bullshit. No one shows their real lives.  I have no issue with being open about my path in this life.  I hope that I can help or enlighten.  It’s a female story because I am female but so many men enjoy it and are really seeing another side of women in this. It is wonderful to have people like and accept my story. It feels like I am sharing and that is wonderful.

What advice would you give a young woman starting out in the [live] music business? 

I am not really a music businessperson.  However, as I tell my young female students…self-produce, get it out there, and push it.  That’s all one can do.  Be authentic, be fierce, fight for your space, be good to other women.  Be kind to all people.  AND most importantly you better have the “goods” so do your work daily and never, ever quit.

EN /縁

The visionary mind of performance artist, Yoshiko Usami (AKA Yokko), brings another far-reaching movement & dance piece to New York. EN /縁, sponsored, in part, by the Greater New York Arts Development Fund of the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, administered by Brooklyn Arts Council, will have a limited run (September 13-15) in Brooklyn at Triskelion Arts on 106 Calyer Street in Brooklyn reflects the deep connections we achieve in our lives – intentionally and unintentionally – positive and negative – for just one moment or for our entire lives.

EN – the Japanese word for this, explores the positive effects of connections. EN is more than just people-connections. We create EN /縁 with people and all living things and even with locations and objects. EN explores the relationship between Nature and all living beings through Butoh dance and Physical Theatre. It explores whether we – as human beings – can create a relationship with people and things we usually take for granted. Every day we carelessly contaminate the Land and the Ocean and even the Air – and all those who inhabit them. EN shows how we can build bridges instead of burning them? Can we truly care for one another?

EN /縁 is 75 minutes but can give you messages that can last a lifetime.

TICKET INFO: $18- for Limited Advanced Sale (until 8/31); $20 General
https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/4305278
PERFORMANCES: Sept. 13 @ 8pm; Sept. 14 @ 8pm; and Sept. 15 @ 3pm.

PRODUCTION TEAM

Choreographer & Director: Yoshiko Usami (AKA Yokko)
Costume Design by Deepsikha Chatterjee; Lighting Design by Rachel Zimmerman; Sound & Projection Design by Jorge Olivo and Alyssa L. Jackson; Installation Art by Pei-Ling Ho. Production Photography and Graphic Design by Krzy Sien; Production Videography by Mathew Kohn.
Rui Dun, Assistant Director and Bob Lyness, Associate Producer
The company features Miles Butler, Annie McCoy, Efrén Olson-Sánchez, Laura Aristovulos, and Yokko

Natasha Dawsen spoke with Yokko about the adventure that is her life in the arts. 

My background is as an Actor for a long time. I came to this country to be an international actor, 13 years ago. It has been quite a journey for me. As a foreign student, I needed to have some financial support, and applied one of the very competitive scholarship programs, and received a full scholarship. As the exchange, I served to the local communities, and shared Japanese culture and Performing Arts such as classical dance and martial arts. I formed a theatre group called Japanese Performing Arts company (JPAC), and gathered students, and taught them and held performances and workshops together. Through the activity, I received the International Understanding Award from the University of Oregon in 2008.

“I think that is the beginning of my journey as a Japanese Performing Artist in the USA.”

After that year, I transferred to SUNY at Albany to prepare for a graduate program in Acting, and be accepted the Actors Studio Drama School at Pace University MFA in Acting program in NYC in 2009. I wrote a one-woman show called BALDY which is an autobiographical play about my father, and relationship with me through my illness and our dreams. I performed and toured the show till early 2014. While I was touring this show, I encountered many audience members who were moved by the story. I  realized the impact of a universal theme to the society through live theatre. Meanwhile, I had to apply for an artist visa to stay and work as an artist.

“And because I had to define who I am, where I am from, what  I have done, and what I do, for the visa appreciation,  I increased my self-awareness that I am a performing artist from Japan specialized in theater and dance.”

At that time, I was focusing on Japanese contemporary dance form, Butoh, and fascinating the craft, and creating the show with Butoh & Acting with my production team. We created the show, called Butoh Medea. It is a total fusion of theatre & dance (Acting and Butoh). This show has been received many awards, and has been touring nationally internationally since 2015. (Next show will be in Oct. 2019 in Czech) When we toured the show in Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2015, again, I encountered audience members who were moved, inspired and moreover and somehow encouraged for their Arts. At the same time, I was asked why I had to tell this story to society and what was my mission status. And so, I had to think deeper meaning toward what I do. 

“All those experiences made me think about why I do and what I do.”

My previous ensemble work, SHINKA was about a story of living beings. It was about destruction and creation. It was about an evolving culture and our minds. When I started creating the show, I wanted to connect the current society and its issues we are facing on. And so, I corporated with overuse of plastic bags. Plastic bags are made of oil, and many countries create a war for oil. This show received many awards and nominated several awards, and because of this show, I received a grant from Brooklyn Arts council for our new project, En. This new show is about environmental issues and relationships between not only humans but also other creatures. 

“I think the current society (and its issues) and nature have been motivating my creativity.  I also do believe what we see in the world is the reflection of our minds, and so, I would love to explore ourselves along with the social issues.”

My mission as a performing artist is to make a bridge between not only humans but also non-humans such as all living beings and nature. And I have been organizing an ecology and arts festival past 4 years in NYC (Unfix NYC). I wanted to do something to the world we live in, which is actually not new to me. When I was a child, I wanted to be a diploma, doctor, or lawyer. (or sports players) But my passion went to more acting, and have been pursuing acting career. After I graduated MFA program, and touring my shows and meeting people/audiences, and teaching theatre, and training Butoh with teachers consistently, I was inspired by each experiences. Moreover, I went back Japan in 2017, and I worked with one of the master teachers in Butoh, Yoshito Ono (Son of Kazuo Ono), and one of the exercises he guided us gave me a huge impact. He showed us a photo of children who were smiling. “They were born in a refugee camp. they do not know the other world than the camp”. He said. He asked us “We are not a doctor, or solger or politiciaons. We are performer. what we can do for these children as a performer? ” We danced for those children as our audience in his studio. This experience shifted me in a good way. I felt the responsibility. And it reminded the letter I received from an audience at the Edinburgh- “Thank you for sharing what art can do.” I did not understand much that time I received the letter in 2015. But when I worked with Yoshito Ono-Sensei in 2017, I felt like a seed rooted in me. Even though I have passion toward this theme,  the subject comes to mind more subconsciously, and very randomly, and I did not plan or intend to create an environmental show in the first place. I am more like following what came to my mind. Sometime I create a piece based on a dream I had over night. I usually see image or sound, and I follow what comes next, and keep exploring those images, I discover the piece to be born. 

DIRECTIONS to the theatre. 

We are at the corner of Calyer St and Banker St.

G Train to the Greenpoint Ave Stop. Walk south on Manhattan Ave, toward Milton St. Take a right on Calyer St.

G Train to the Nassau Ave Stop. Walk north on Manhattan Ave toward Norman St. Take a left on Calyer St.

L Train to the Bedford Avenue Stop.  Walk west on North 7th St to Berry St. Take a right on Berry St. Take a left on Banker St.

Buses near us: B32, B62, B43

Accessibility: Triskelion Arts is committed to making our Muriel Schulman Mainstage Theater welcoming and accessible to all. If you have any seating questions, need an accommodation, or require any other special assistance with purchasing tickets, please contact us at 718.389.3473 or info@triskelionarts.org. Our Mainstage Theater is on the ground level and accessible to those who use wheelchairs. Accessible seats are available for each performance in our Mainstage Theater and an accessible restroom is located on street level.

The new arts organization, From Scratch Performance Company, is more than just another theatrical company. it is a working body of art. It’s repertory holds many actors, singers, dancers, but also those that help them act, sing, and dance.

Their new artistic director is a playwright, for instance. Robert Liebowitz is a 40-year veteran of independent theater. He stand next to experienced designers, composers and Albena Kervanbashieva and Shelly Ellis Herrington. 

It’s possible to have a dancer or two in a rep but TWO PRIMA BALLERINAS? This company is showing all signs of being something special.

Albena Kervanbashieva, a Bulgarian native, began in the hands of Ballet master, Pavel Stoitzev when she was seven. After making a name for herself in her native Bulgaria, she came to these shores and scored kudos as part of Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance, Doris Humphrey Dance Company, La Ballade Ballet Company, Contemporary Ballet Theater, Jayne Persh and Dancers, Les Ballets du Monde and collaborating with numerous independent choreographers. She is currently a member of Dance Visions.

Shelly Ellis Herrington trained as a Classical Ballerina on Point at the legendary Brooklyn Academy of Music. As she grew, so did her skills, she is now adept in Jazz, Tap and Modern Dance as well. She then added “singer” to her resume as a Soprano and Mezzo. Now she just needed the actor part to be a triple-threat. She went to Kingsborough College to hone those skills.

We sat down (not easy with two such agile artists) to discuss the upcoming event.

City Center – that’s great … are you excited? 

Shelly Ellis Herrington I joined this exciting and very rewarding Company because of it’s introductory presentation:  My very first meeting with them was at “New York City Center in Rudolph Nureyev Ballet Arts Center.”  I immediately understood where this Company was headed, and I made an excellent choice to be a part of it. As an Artist, I would have to be truly mentally incapacitated if I was ‘Not’ excited about having a Scene from my personal production of “HOSEKI” performed at this iconic Hall.  It is indeed an honor and a joy to be presented at The New York City Center.

What made you form/join this company?

Albena Kervanbashieva I was very intrigued when I stumbled upon the “Spectatorum” organization (later renamed “From Scratch Performance Company”) – I really jumped at the chance to meet and collaborate with artists from fields other than mine (dance).

What make you different from other indie arts companies?

Shelly Ellis Herrington What makes me different from other indie arts companies is a lot of my productions are based on ‘Real Life’ situations.  Creating them into art is a gift.

Albena Kervanbashieva I am immensely honored to be offered 4 original music pieces by 3 composers from the company, who trusted me with my choreography. It is frightening and deeply rewarding at the same time to dance my own choreography, up to this point I’ve always danced other peoples’ works, I truly started “from scratch”.

What are your plans/hopes/dreams for the future?

Albena Kervanbashieva I hardly can wait to discover how far I can go with this and what a gift to be surrounded by such talented artists who are on a similar journey in their fields! I am so looking forward to having more creatives joining us and collaborating. When one starts from scratch there’s so much freedom to create original works – All that we have is ourselves, without copying or recreating anyone else’s. I’d love to co-create  full length productions of Theater, Music and Dance!

Shelly Ellis Herrington My Plans, Hopes, and Dreams for the Future is to Produce 10 original productions of Plays, Movies, and Music.  I have every intention of being at the Tony Awards, Oscar’s, and Grammy Awards. What’s next for me is my Second Reading in the Fall of my original 2-Hour Theatrical Musical “HOSEKI/SHELLY” with Song and Dance.  WhooWhoo!