Diánna Martin

Part historical odyssey, part musical, Musical Pawns centers on the career work of Russian composer David Nowakowsky, a brilliant contemporary of Tchaikovsky and Wagner, whose works have been lost for nearly 100 years. Guarding his unpublished manuscripts for decades were his Grandson and then Great-Grandson, and the play also follows their life as Jews in [...]

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  Performance art pieces, in general, can be thrilling to behold, whether they break new ground, or simply retrace the steps made by others in new and innovative (or deeply personal and fascinating) ways. The idea of combining dance, theatre, and clown with music to portray emotional journeys and the struggle of gender roles sounds [...]

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When you were growing up, did you ever have characters from TV or film that you looked up to and felt that if you could be like them, you could do anything? Cyndi Freeman sure did, and she didn’t pick any run-of-the-mill hero…she picked THE woman…you know…the awesome chick in the invisible jet who could [...]

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Yippie! – Revolution On Demand (FRIGID New York 2011)

by Diánna Martin March 9, 2011 Festivals

A energetic and fascinating ensemble piece, Yippie! blends fact and fiction to create a behind-the-scenes look at the rise of Jerry Rubin’s Youth International Party of the 1960s. In a “what if?” take on the Chicago 1968 riots, writers/directors Randy Anderson and Harrison Williams look at the darker side of what happens when even flower [...]

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There is No Good News – Laughing Until Your Sides Hurt (FRIGID New York 2011)

by Diánna Martin March 9, 2011 Festivals

From the moment you hear David Mogolov utter the words: “When I was seven years old my parents bought me a bullwhip,” the ice is broken, the walls immediately come down, and you are brought into a world of a hilarious, yet serious, one-man show that is There Is No Good News. I found myself [...]

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My Pal Izzy – The Early Life And Music Of Irving Berlin – Fact, Fiction, and Peaches (FRIGID New York 2011)

by Diánna Martin March 4, 2011 Festivals

Imaginative and educational, Melanie Gall’s My Pal Izzy – The Early Life And Music Of Irving Berlin combines a healthy dose of fact and fiction as we are given a panoramic view of the life of brilliant composer Irving Berlin during his early formative years through his ill-fated albeit loving marriage to Dorothy Goetz. Our [...]

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Year Of The Slut – It Was A Very Long Year (FRIGID New York 2011)

by Diánna Martin March 3, 2011 FRIGID 2011

Jennifer Lieberman’s one-woman show, Year of the Slut, is an odyssey through the life of a young Canadian getting her feet wet in the bright lights and big city of New York. The main things on her mind besides getting her acting career in high gear is to successfully 1) lose her virginity 2) survive [...]

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The National Newborn Festival: Celebrating Emerging Playwrights In Style

by Diánna Martin January 28, 2011 Event

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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Be [un]afraid … Very [un]afraid: The Neos Show Us The Many Faces Of Fear

by Diánna Martin October 19, 2010 Manhattan

Those who are even remotely familiar with the Off and Off-Off-Theatre scene in New York have, by this point, either heard of or seen work by the New York Neo-Futurists. The company, whose work has awarded them the New York Innovative Theatre Foundation‘s Caffe Cino Fellowship and the respect of critics and audiences alike, is [...]

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Oberon Theatre’s “Othello” And “Order” At Theatre Row: Interviews With The Madmen (And Woman) Behind The Curtain – Pt. 4

by Diánna Martin June 25, 2010 Interviews

In the fourth and final installment of our Oberon Theatre Ensemble Rep Interview Series, we’ve got a treat – actor, director, and teacher Austin Pendleton. With a body of work on stage and screen that has spanned several decades, Austin is a vocal and active member of the Off-Off-Broadway community, who has championed the need [...]

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Oberon Theatre’s “Othello” And “Order” At Theatre Row: Interviews With The Madmen (And Woman) Behind The Curtain – Pt. 3

by Diánna Martin June 20, 2010 Interviews

In the third part of our interview series on Oberon Theatre Ensemble’s Summer Rep 2010, I was delighted to be able to speak with Cara Reichel, Director of Othello, and Producing Artistic Director for Prospect Theatre Company. Coincidently I finally got to see Othello last night (Othello is one of my favorite plays of The [...]

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Oberon Theatre’s “Othello” And “Order” At Theatre Row: Interviews With The Madmen (And Woman) Behind The Curtain – Pt. 2

by Diánna Martin June 18, 2010 Interviews

Next up in our Oberon Theatre Ensemble Rep interview series is Brad Fryman, the Artistic Director of this esteemed theatre company, who produces the shows, and who essentially decides what will be running season after season. Not only is Brad producing two shows simultaneously at Theatre Row, he is also co-starring in Order, as the [...]

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Oberon Theatre’s “Othello” And “Order” At Theatre Row: Interviews With The Madmen (And Woman) Behind The Curtain

by Diánna Martin June 16, 2010 Interviews

One theatre company very near and dear to my heart is Oberon Theatre Ensemble, now celebrating its 13th season bringing invigorating theatre to New York City. Their M.O. is usually a Rep that involves both a play by The Bard and an original piece or revival. The last few years they have been doing their [...]

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Planet Connections Q&A: Good Lonely People

by Diánna Martin June 8, 2010 Festivals

Planet Connections Theatre Festivity is New York City’s premiere eco-friendly theatre festival, connecting artists and audiences with diverse dynamic charitable organizations. The Planet Connections experience entertains, enlightens and informs. This Summer I was quite fortunate to be able to direct a play for one of my favorite theatre companies, MTWorks, who hired me to direct [...]

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Cabaretion! The Innovative Theatre Foundation’s Gala Benefit Honors Christopher Durang

by Diánna Martin May 14, 2010 Awards

On Monday, May 17th, the New York Innovative Theatre Foundation will be bringing down the house with a fabulous fundraising benefit at Caroline’s on Broadway – Cabaretion!. There will be food, open bar, and a line-up hosted by Jackie Hoffman that includes Taylor Mac among many other awesome performers;  but to top it off, the [...]

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Titus Andronicus: The Bard Would Be Proud, Methinks

by Diánna Martin March 20, 2010 Manhattan

I was just having a conversation with a fellow actor who is also the Literary Manager for one of my favorite theatre companies, and we were discussing how incredibly difficult it is to stage a successful production of Titus Andronicus. Considered by most to be Shakespeare’s most bloody and violent play; one based on the [...]

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Vodka Shoes Fit All Sizes (Frigid Festival 2010)

by Diánna Martin March 17, 2010 Festivals

Storytellers. Monologists. One-Woman Shows. The lines blur in the art forms because they are often one in the same. Sometimes the difference is subtle, and I find that sometimes it has to do with how much is taken from personal life stories. An actor (hopefully) personalizes the choices he or she makes on stage; but [...]

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