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Congrats to Vince Nappo and Other Bodies!

Sunday, December 21, 2008 0 comments

Patrick Lee at Just Shows To Go You named Vince Nappo's performance in our Other Bodies as one of the Twelve Freshest Faces on 2008! It is very exciting to see Vince's excellent work in that extremely demanding role being recognized.

You can read the whole thing here.

And while you're at it, why not check out Patrick's full Best of 2008 list? It is an inspiring list that finds excellence everywhere from crowd pleasing big budget musicals to challenging Indie theatre plays. Read the full story

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Flux Sunday, December 14th

BLACK AND WHITE AND BLUE
Our last Flux Sunday of 2008 was the most intimate we'd had in a while, and that combined with Michael's delicious cookies gave the day a relaxed holiday air. We read a bunch of pages from Rob Ackerman's Volleygirls and my 60's play, and three delicious pages from Johnna Adam's Lickspittles, Button Holers and Damned Pernicious Go-Betweens.

1966
We read through most of the newly revised 60's play, up through 1966 and the Black and White ball. Highlights were Jason Pardine's Bobby, Michael Davis' George, and Kelly O Donnell's Tegan. The play is really coming now, and soon the challenge will be honing in on the heart of a play with ten equal parts. I suspect the play my finally live between Anisa and Tegan, but Marie becomes more and more interesting every year, and there's nobody I want to listen to more then Martha.

LITTLE SPITTLE
Though we only read a few pages of Johnn'a hexameter comedy, it was enough to give all of us the holiday treat of Brian Pracht's ridiculously divine Peder the Lickspittle.

VOLLEYGIRLS
We closed Flux Sundays in 2008 by reading through the end (almost) of Rob Ackerman's Volleygirls. It was a perfect note to end on, as the Coach and his players pulled out a victory of the classic against all odds variety.

And that was the end of Flux Sundays in the year of Aught Eight. Read the full story

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Flux Sunday, December 7th

ETUDES AND ATTITUDES

Our post trilogy return to Flux Sunday was marked by stabs at virtuosity, some made, some missed. The first attempt was my own hope of staging the EIGHT scenes on our list all in three hours, an attempt that fell utterly short. But many others succeeded in honoring the patron saint of this Flux Sunday, Franz Liszt.

THE TRANSCENDENTAL TANENBAUM
Member Isaiah Tanenbaum brought his work as a playwright to an exciting new place with the first two scenes of his play, The Transcendental Etudes. A play inspired by a fraud surrounding the nearly impossible to play Liszt composition, The Transcendental Etudes is written in a highly formal stylized poetry that makes even the simplest question and answer an opportunity for flights of fancy. Jane Taylor and Cotton Wright were able to root these soaring words in two deeply felt readings.

OUR TALKING IS BURNING
On a different wavelength of virtuosity, Aaron Michael Zook's We are Burning continued it's unique mash-up of grand myth and crumbs on the cafe table; this scene featured a lengthy monologue for lead lost soul Will, which read like a run across a smooth floor covered in marbles without falling. Another, very different, opportunity for verbal virtuosity.

DIVING ASIDES
A comic virtuosity emerged from Rob Ackerman's Volleygirls; as his deeply funny use of asides to the audience even in the midst of a dive for a ball lends this play tremendous staging opportunities for actors and directors. We just read this scene, but even reading these scenes you feel like diving for something.

KINGDOM OF GRAIN
A newly revised first scene from the 60's play aka Ten Black Boxes aka Kingdom of Grain gave director Heather Cohn another opportunity to wrestle with the unique challenges of the simultaneous scenes; and gave David Crommett a chance to mash-up John F Kennedy and Frederico Garcia Lorca.

CLUBBED BY THE CLUB
The second scene from Corey Ann Haydu's Club brought us into the most grueling virtuosity of all, the busy restaurant. Marnie Schulenburg brought a empathetic goodness to new waitress June as she was assaulted on all sides by Cotton Wright as a nasty customer and nastier waitress, with only David Renwanz's bartender (and yay for the return of David!) as a source of dubious help.

We also heard the first scene of Jeremy Basescu's The Syndrome Syndrome, and in a wonderful visit to memory lane, read a newly revised scene from Katherine Burger's Legends of Batvia, one of the first plays we finished workshopping in 2008. Read the full story

Katherine Burger at the KGB

Looking for some post-Christmas literary fun? Flux Sunday regular playwright Katherine Burger (Texas Toast, Legends of Batvia, Way Deep) is a contributor to Stray Stories, a night of readings. Check it out here! Read the full story

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nytheatre.com 2008 People of the Year

You may have already seen this on our website or read this in our December newsletter, but the good people at nytheatre.com have selected Flux Theatre Ensemble as one of their People of the Year for 2008.

This is an honor for several reasons, first and foremost because it comes from nytheatre.com. Their generosity of spirit and expansiveness of reach has made them so essential it is hard to imagine New York theatre without them.

It is secondly exciting to share this honor with so many interesting artists, some we know, some we don't; and it is my hope that this award can also serve as the beginning of a relationship with many of the other lauded artists and companies.

Finally, it is exciting to follow in the footsteps of past winners, including companies like Electric Pear, Partial Comfort Productions, and Impetuous Theatre Group.

To learn more, go here.

And to hear a great podcast about the award, go here. Read the full story

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Flux Sunday, October 5th

This was the last Flux Sunday before the trilogy began, and again, it was a full three hours, with scenes from Rob Ackerman's Volley Girls, Johnna Adam's Lickspittles, Buttonholers and Damn Pernicious Go Betweens, Jeremy Basescu's The Will, Mary Fengar Gail's Beggar At The Feast, and my own 60's play.

Over two months later, I remember Jason Paradine's hilarious Coach in Volleygirls, Brian Pracht's deliciously self-satisfied smirk as Peder in Lickspittles, a fierce turn by Mary as Eleanor in The Will, and Johnna Adam's lyrical read of Martha in my 60's play.

Then everything was put on hold as we watched a family through three generations try to bring back mankind's lost beauty and grace in the horns so long lost and almost forgotten. Read the full story

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Flux Sunday, September 28th

Yes, I've been a wee bit derelict in posting about our Flux Sunday activities - trilogies will do that to you. And I know that somewhere in the first half of the year, a Flux Sunday went unreported on this blog, a victim to this swiftly tilting 2008. Sometimes this blog feels like the Buendia home and the flood of work we do Macondo's assault, but I try as best I can to keep all smelling like basil, even months after the fact.

Still with me? All right then. Our final Flux before the Trilogy went out with a good-sized bang, featuring new scenes from Aaron Michael Zook's We Are Burning, Jeremy Basescu's The Will, Johnna Adam's Lickspittles, Buttonholers, and Damned Pernicious Go-Betweens, Rob Ackerman's Volleygirls; and the first scenes from new plays by Corey Ann Haydu and Mary Fengar Gail.

Highlights included Ingrid Nordstrom's continued beautiful work as Lucy in We Are Burning; Christina Shipp channeling every long night serving cocktails as a waitress gone mad in Club; Anthony Willis Jr's nuanced playwright charmer in Beggar At The Feast; Richard Watson's hexameter sputtering Stub in Lickspittles, Aaron's hilarious portrayal of sad-sack simpleton Victor in The Will; and the shortest volleyball team ever in Volleygirls.

I could say more about this particularly jam packed Flux Sunday, but there is only so much time left in 2008 to look back. Read the full story

2008 Year In Review

Saturday, December 20, 2008 4 comments

(Photo: Heather Cohn)
When you're in the middle of something hard, it's sometimes hard to see it for what it really is.

So it was for 2008 - what often felt like a series of narrowly dodged crises, minor epiphanies, missed deadlines, brief victories and barely won compromises actually turns out to be an extraordinary year of mutual support and accomplishment. What follows is a series of highlights and pictures from what was truly a season of transformation, sometimes for the worse but mostly for the better. I will never stop being grateful for everyone who made this year possible for us. Thank you, and let's hop in the Delorian and zoom back to January 2008.
FLUX SUNDAYS START AGAIN, JANUARY 6TH
(Photo: Allison Bolah)
Our developmental process Flux Sunday met over twenty times in 2008, developing plays like David Ian Lee's Sleeper, Kate Marks Bird House, Rob Ackerman's Icarus Of Ohio, Katherine Burger's Legends of Batvia, Aaron Michael Zook's We Are Burning, Adam Szymokiwcz's Open hearts, Isaiah Tanenbaum's Transcendental Etudes, Jeremy Basescu's A Wonderul Wife, Erin Browne's Trying, Jamie Robert Carrillo's Simple, and over fifty more.

HAVE ANOTHER #2, JANUARY 7TH
(Pictured: Jason Paradine, Daren Taylor, David Douglas Smith)
The very next day, we held our second Have Another, featuring not only plays by Johnna Adams, Rob Ackerman and Brian Pracht...
(Pictured: Rebecca McHugh)
But also drinks and great company!
(Photo: Isaiah Tanenbaum. Pictured: Tom Delpizzo, Caitlin Kinsella)
FLUX SUNDAY, JANUARY 13TH - LEGENDS OF BATVIA COMPLETE
This particular Flux saw us finish working through Katherine Burger's glorious feast of language, Legends of Batvia.

JANUARY 13TH, FIRST EVER READ THROUGH OF 8 LITTLE ANTICHRISTS!
(Photo: by Johnna Adams. Pictured: Zack Robidas, Rebecca McHugh)

FLUX SUNDAY, JANUARY 20TH - ICARUS OF OHIO COMPLETE
This Sunday, we finished reading through Rob's Icarus of Ohio, with a particularly moving read from Felicia Hudson.
(Photo: Allison Bolah. Pictured: Rob Ackerman)

JANUARY 20TH - FIRST SHAKESPEARE WORKSHOP
Our throughly enjoyable but ultimately ill-fated series of Shakespeare workshops to prepare for Midsummer started this Sunday.

CASTING THE SEASON, FEBRUARY 2ND AND 3RD
Our casting process yielded a season where every Flux Member had at least one acting opportunity, and we brought many new artists into our community. Despite the successes in casting, we learned a lot about our values as an Ensemble, and hope to bring an even more fair and open process to casting for 2009. This conversation of rights, responsibilities and values continued at our retreat, and we hope to hammer out a working arrangement this coming January.
FLUX'S FIRST GRANT, FEBRUARY 12TH
Thank you, Fractured Atlas!

FLUX SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 17TH - TRYING COMPLETE
This Sunday we finished working through Erin Browne's beautiful play, Trying.

FLUX SUNDAY, MARCH 16TH - A WONDERFUL WIFE
In March we welcomed Kate Marks and Amy Fitts to Flux Sundays, and on this particular Sunday, finished working through Jeremy Basescu's A Wonderful Wife.

(Pictured: Jake Alexander, Candice Holdorf, Will Ditterline, Jane Taylor, Ellen McLaughlin, Michael Davis)
Our second Food:Soul featured Jason Grote's This Storm is What We Call Progress, and exceptional performances from our own Candice Holdorf and Jake Alexander, as well as our delicious home cooked Flux food.
APRIL 6TH, THE MIDSUMMER PHOTO SHOOT
Some of these are from a 2nd photo shoot we did, but I loved them enough to sneak them in here...
(Photo by: Isaiah Tanenbaum. Pictured: Nitya Vidyasagar)
(Photo by: Isaiah Tanenbaum. Pictured: Nick Monroy)
A special thanks goes to Nick Monroy, who not only rocked as Snout, but stepped in last minute as Herbert in Angel Eaters.(Photo: Isaiah Tanenbaum. Pictured: Maggie Hamilton)

THE MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM BENEFIT, APRIL 14TH
What a party! What a raffle!
(Pictured: Jason Paradine, Christina Shipp)
What a...um...what?
(Pictured: Caitlin Kinsella, Zack Robidas, Marnie Schulenburg)
THE IMAGINATION COMPACT BEGINS - APRIL 28TH
Our four part reading series riff on the characters of Midsummer turned out to be one of the most successful parts of our season. The first IC focused on the Fairies, and highlights included Autumn Horne's take charge in Katherine Burger's riotous take on the hard working fairies; and Erin Browne's elegiac look at Titania's love affair with the Votaress.

THE IMAGINATION COMPACT - MAY 5TH
This IC focused on the lovers, with highlights including Mac Rogers funny-sad take on how the lovers grew up under the warm-hearted direction of Scott Ebersold.

A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM REHEARSALS BEGIN - MAY 8TH
Oh, it wasn't always the easiest rehearsal process but to me it was such a blessing...
(Photo: Isaiah Tanenbaum. Pictured: Jake Alexander, Amy Fitts, Brian Pracht)(Photo: Isaiah Tanenbaum. Pictured: Charlotte Graham, Kira Blaskovich, Tiffany Clementi, Hannah Rose Peck, Christina Shipp)
(Photo: Isaiah Tanenbaum. Pictured: Charlotte Graham, Muchael Swartz, Nitya Vidyasagar, Caitlin Kinsella, Tiffany Clementi, Hannah Roese Peck)(Photo: Isaiah Tanenbaum. Pictured: Kira Blaskovich, Christina Shipp, Hannah Rose Peck)(Photo: Isaiah Tanenbaum. Pictured: Amy Fitts, Brian Pracht)((Photo: Isaiah Tanenbaum. Pictured: Frederique Nahmani, Aaron Michael Zook)
THE IMAGINATION COMPACT - MAY 12TH
This IC focused on the royals, with highlights including Jason Paradine's comic turn in Jeff Lewonczyk's take on Theseus, and a particularly meta take on the project from Amlin Gray.

THE IMAGINATION COMPACT - MAY 19TH
This IC played around with the mechanicals, with highlights including Caitlin Kinsella's incandescent role in Brian Pracht's look at backstage love affairs, and Matt Archambault bringing the funny to Rob Ackerman's bittersweet take on Quince.
MIDSUMMER OPENS, JUNE 6TH
And the theatre was hot hot hot and everyone was running for ice and popsicles and in spite of all of that, the critics were kind and the audiences kept coming and we had our best selling show yet - and yet - I still think about all the moments I didn't quite catch...
(Photo: Shalin Scupham. Pictured: Michael Davis, Nitya Vidyasagar)(Photo: Shalin Scupham. Pictured: Candice Holdorf, Amy Fitts)(Photo: Shalin Scupham. Pictured: Christina Shipp, Isaiah Tanenbaum)(Photo: Shalin Scupham. Pictured: Michael Davis, Kira Blaskovich)
FLUX SUNDAY RESUMES, JULY 6TH
After our long production break, we resumed with Rob's Call Me Waldo, David's Dog Show, Johnna's Oneida, Servants of Motion, Aaron's We Are Burning, and the newly revised third part of Other Bodies.
(Photo: Allison Bolah. Pictured: Daren Taylor, David Ian Lee, David Douglas Smith)
OTHER BODIES REHEARSALS BEGIN, JULY 9TH
I have never been quite so humbled by a writing and rehearsal process as I was by Other Bodies, and I still feel a bit like Terry, chasing after inscrutable things, but being given the sweetness of a Jeff or two along the way...

(Photo: Isaiah Tanenbaum. Pictured: Vince Nappo, Christina Shipp)
(Photo: Isaiah Tanenbaum. Pictured: Jason Paradine)(Photo: Isaiah Tanenbaum. Pictured: Asa Wember)(Pictured: Jason Paradine, Heather Cohn)(Pictured: Christina Shipp)
OTHER BODIES OPENS, AUGUST 10TH
(Photo: Isaiah Tanenbaum. Pictured: Vince Nappo, Christina Shipp)(Photo: Isaiah Tanenbaum. Pictured: Vince Nappo, Christina Shipp)(Photo: Isaiah Tanenbaum. Pictured: Vince Nappo, Christina Shipp)(Photo: Isaiah Tanenbaum. Pictured: Christina Shipp)

HEATHER COHN WINS FRINGE NYC AWARD, AUGUST 24TH
In the Spiegeltent, Jason and Heather and I packed in like sardines, barely able to hear the good news, and then calling everyone we could, shouting over the noise, and Chainsaw herself, cutting through the crowd...

Our Annual Retreat at Little Pond has become a centering and central part of our artistic identity. This time round, we focused the first two days on Membership only, asking questions about rights, responsibilities and values that helped us move closer to a more meaningful mission, organizational structure, values statement and shared aesthetic.
(Photo: Heather Cohn. Pictured: Kelly O'Donnell, Jason Paradine, Tiffany Clementi)
But we also found time to cook and eat and relax!
( Pictured: Tiffany Clementi, Heather Cohn)
And do puzzles...(Photo: Heather Cohn. Pictured: Cotton Wright, Kate Marks, Jason Paradine, Angela Astle)
...given to us by Luis Cobo in honor of our past shows, like Rue......Riding the Bull......and Life is a Dream!We also worked on plays indoors (the 60's play)
(Photo: Tiffany Clementi. Pictured: Jake Alexander, Brian Pracht, Rebecca McHugh, Ingrid Nordstrom)
...and outside, like Texas Toast...(Photo: Tiffany Clementi. Pictured: Heather Cohn, Joe Mathers, Ingrid Nordstrom)
...Rob Ackerman's Call Me Waldo, Johnna Adams' Oneida and classics like Our Town and J.B. It was an amazing week of theatre and local corn on the cob!
FLUX SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 7TH
Our post-Fringe and retreat Flux Sunday featured the first scenes of the prolific Rob Ackerman's Volleygirls, and more 60's play and We Are Burning.
SEPTEMBER 27TH: FAB FESTIVAL - SCENE FROM 8 LITTLE ANTICHRISTS
Our first time participating in the FAB Festival featured the Zaz and Sem and Jeremy.

OCTOBER 1ST, ANGELA ASTLE MADE A MEMBER OF FLUX
After meeting Angela during the 2007 Fringe, we were impressed by her passion, intelligence and work ethic. We invited her to Flux Sundays, and her work there made us ask her to direct a scene for Have Another, and that led to directing a night of the Imagination Compact, and that led to her Associate Directing A Midsummer Night's Dream, and that led to an invitation to our retreat; and all of those steps made us honored and elated when she said yes!

OCTOBER 6TH, ANGEL EATERS REHEARSALS BEGIN
(Photo: Justin Hoch)(Photo: Justin Hoch. Pictured: Jodi Witherell, Jessi D.Hill)
(Photo: Justin Hoch. Pictured. Asa Wember, Jennifer Rathbone)
(Photo: Justin Hoch. Pictured: Autumn Horne, Asa Wember, Jerry Ruiz, Johnna Adams, Jennifer Rathbone)(Photo: Justin Hoch. Pictured: Autumn Horne)(Photo: Justin Hoch. Pictured: Isaiah Tanenbaum)
(Photo: Justin Hoch. Pictured: Johnna Adams)
OCTOBER 19TH, THE ANGEL EATERS TRILOGY BENEFIT

OCTOBER 30TH, FEATURED ON THE NYTHEATRE.COM PODCAST

OCTOBER ???, NYPRESS NAMES FLUX BEST INDIE THEATER COMPANY YOU DON'T KNOW WHOSE WORK YOU SHOULD GET YOUR ASS TO

NOVEMBER 6TH, ANGEL EATERS OPENS
(Photo: by Johnna Adams. Pictured: Cotton Wright, Marnie Schulenburg)(Photo: Justin Hoch. Pictured: Gregory Waller, Tiffany Clementi)

(Photo: Justin Hoch. Pictured: Marnie Schulenburg, Ken Glickfeld)

(Photo: Justin Hoch. Pictured: Marnie Schulenburg, Catherine Porter, Isaiah Tanenbaum, Ken Glickfeld, Gregory Waller)
NOVEMBER 7TH, RATTLERS OPENS
(Photo: Justin Hoch. Pictured: Matthew Crosby, Richard B Watson)(Photo: Justin Hoch. Pictured: Jane Lincoln Taylor, David Jackson)(Photo: Justin Hoch. Pictured: Amy Lynn Stewart, Scott Drummond)(Photo: Justin Hoch. Pictured: Scott Drummond, Jason Paradine)
NOVEMBER 7TH, A FEW HOURS LATER, 8 LITTLE ANTICHRISTS OPENS
(Photo: by Johnna Adams. Pictured: Candice Holdorf, August Schulenburg, Zack Robidas, Rebecca McHugh)(Photo: by Johnna Adams. Pictured: Jake Alexander, Joe Mathers)(Photo: by Johnna Adams. Pictured: Felicia Hudson, Zack Robidas, Elise Link)
(Photo: by Johnna Adams. Pictured: Satanachia)
DECEMBER, NYTHEATRE.COM' NAMES FLUX ONE OF THEIR 'PEOPLE OF THE YEAR' 2008

DECEMBER 7TH, FLUX SUNDAY
Our first post-trilogy Flux Sunday features the most scenes ever, including a return to where Flux Sunday's began with a revised scene from Katherine Burger's Legends of Batvia.

DECEMBER 14TH, FLUX SUNDAY
Our final Flux Sunday looks to the future with several scenes read from the as yet untitled 60's play.

What a year. Thank you to everyone who was a part of it. We'll see you in 2009!
Read the full story