January 2011

If this is the first time you’re hearing of FRIGID then you’re either new to THM, new to New York, new to off-off-Broadway theatre in general, or just not paying attention. The Annual FRIGID New York Festival, presented by Horse Trade Theater Group, is now in its 5th year  but I promise you this will [...]

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If you missed my interview with Cindy Murphy last week take a second to catch up – she is one talented lady with a great eye and an even greater sense of humor.  Which is why it’s only fitting that for the first official instiallment of what will be a biweekly event we focus on [...]

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The National Newborn Festival has become, over the last four years, one of the premiere playwriting festivals in the country for emerging playwrights. A flagship program created and produced by MTWorks, an ever-growing, non-profit theatre company, Newborn allows playwrights to have a work never produced in New York be read in a festival setting. Free [...]

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The Momentum – Riding The Shimmering Dolphin Through The Gaping Hole To Your Perfect Destiny

by Karen Tortora-Lee January 27, 2011 Manhattan

There’s hardly a person out there who hasn’t been touched by a self-actualization movement of one type or another – be it a seminar, a book, a class or a friend whose life has changed and wants to share the experience (or worse yet, has a quota to fill). We’ve all seen it from The [...]

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This Review Brought To You By . . . Avenue Of The Americas

by Karen Tortora-Lee January 25, 2011 Manhattan

A commercial, if it’s a good one, will do a few things: 1) Grab your interest 2) Make the product look good – or surround the product with other things that look good  3) Include an addictive catch phase 4) Tell a complete story that wouldn’t exist without the product 5) Finish up in under [...]

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Age Out – Check Please

by Karen Tortora-Lee January 21, 2011 Manhattan

There are a million stories in this city.  But really, when you come right down to it – there are just about five stories that we have to tell each other at the end of a long day.  There are the stories about fighting with our significant other, the stories about getting stabbed in the [...]

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Every Dog (Act) Has Its Day – An Interview With Playwright Liz Duffy Adams

by Karen Tortora-Lee January 20, 2011 Interviews

It’s no secret that as far as Theatre Ensembles go, Flux is one of my very favorites.  Consistently turning out quality work that never fails to leave audiences utterly captivated and amazed, they set the off-off Broadway bar very high – only to sail over it with each successive production.  I’m always expectant when I know [...]

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Hey! You Look Just Like . . . Introducing Doppelganger Diptychs

by Karen Tortora-Lee January 14, 2011 Art

Back in the ’90s when Ricki Lake had her talk show and was pretty much at the height of her career (if she only knew it then!) it was kinda unavoidable for me to be compared to her – especially since she was still riding the coattails of her Hairspray fame (You should see me [...]

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Connect Five – Four Plays With One Thing In Common

by Karen Tortora-Lee January 12, 2011 Manhattan

We all want to feel deeply connected to someone else in a new way that surprises us.  How that connection comes about  - emotionally, physically, mentally or sexually – is actually secondary.  When that unexpected connection locks in there’s a heightened state of awareness that can overpower our conventional systems and methods, an allure that [...]

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Nightsong For The Boatman – Confused And Off Key

by The Happiest Medium January 9, 2011 Manhattan

The Happiest Medium Review by guest contributors Anjali Koppal and Saurabh Paranjape Nightsong For The Boatman, a new play by the late Jovanka Bach and brought to life as a loving tribute by her husband John Stark, is an odd creature. Ostensibly a modern take on the ancient Greek play ‘Alcestis’, Nightsong is a strangely [...]

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A Wonderfully Flat Thing – Or A Journey Into Your Imagination

by Lina Zeldovich January 9, 2011 Manhattan

Mark Twain’s short story A Fable gets a dazzling rebirth in A Wonderfully Flat Thing, when Manju Shandler (the artistic director who had previously designed masks and puppetry for The Lion King on Broadway) brings her creative talent to this small but charming production which appeals to everyone from age three and up.  The script [...]

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Interview With The Four Writers Of Connect Five

by Karen Tortora-Lee January 6, 2011 Interviews

Four writers plus one audience equals Connect Five – The Common Tongue’s evening of one-act plays which will be going on from January 5 – 16 at The Ars Nova Building.  The night brings together two emerging playwrights – Danny Mitarotondo (recipient of the Edward F. Albee Writing Fellowship) and Bronwen Prosser (Vital Theatre’s The [...]

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