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The Walls of Season 4: Baghdad

Sunday, November 28, 2010 1 comments

Walls play a major role in all three plays of our Season 4: Don't Look Away. In Dog Act, the legacy of a breach in a walled city defines the conflict. In Menders, we follow the arc of two student guards watching the wall of a post-apocalyptic city. In Ajax in Iraq, the walls are more metaphorical, as cracks appear in the borders between past and present, soldier and civilian, and heroism and cruelty.

Much of our marketing discussion has therefore centered around walls as a visual motif for the season. So I was particularly struck by this article Kelly O'Donnell forwarded me about art on the blast walls of Baghdad. As photo-essayist Holly Pickett writes:

Baghdad’s blast walls are a blank canvas. They reflect Iraqis’ shared history — both proud and painful facts of life here in the capital.
Beauty and violence; security and anxiety; the art in her photos connects with the themes of our season in a powerful way. We'll talk more on this blog about the further variations of this theme, but first, check out her photos and let us know what you think. Do you know of other examples of walls being repurposed as canvases for art? Read the full story

Flux Gives Thanks!

Wednesday, November 24, 2010 2 comments

(Photo by Heather Cohn)

Epic Thanks is the awesome initiative by Amy Sample Ward and Epic Change to create an online flood of gratitude - check out how you can participate here.

Flux is getting in on the thankfulness, as we have a lot to be grateful for, and we want to spread the love before the tryptophan sets in. I asked the Members of Flux what they were thankful for, including what they thought Flux should be thankful for, and here's what we've come up with so far:

Kelly O'Donnell:

  • I'm thankful for the plethora of actors who shared their work with us during season auditions. I'm moved by the amount of time they dedicated and the passion they shared with us.
  • I'm thankful for all the artists who have worked with Flux. We wouldn't be where we are now without them.
Heather Cohn:
  • My families: my first family, my fiance's family, my Flux family
  • Dreams
  • Friday Night Lights
  • Stage managers
  • Actors
  • Spicy popcorn
Matthew Archambault:
  • I'm thankful for the Flux community, existing in a city where community can be surprisingly hard to find.
  • And for comedy, to help us cope with this crazy world.
  • And for Matt Murumba.
Jason Paradine -"Flux is thankful for...":
  • NYC.
  • Carissa Cordes.
  • Donors.
  • Judson Memorial Church.
  • Little Pond.
  • Our day jobs! TCG/Epic/Google/Public/NYSSC/Isaiah' school
Isaiah Tanenbaum:
  • My beautiful, giving, intelligent, wonderful wife.
  • The ongoing opportunity to collaborate with a company of hardworking, creative, inspiring theatrical artists.
  • My loving, supportive extended family.
  • My health, my security, my financial stability, my freedom to pursue my dreams and fulfill my potential.
  • I feel a little happier just writing those out, so let's add that I'm grateful for EpicThanks for giving me the chance to remind myself just how good my life is!
August Schulenburg:
  • My families: my first family, my fiance's family, my Flux family (yes, OK, I stole this one from Heather, but I'm allowed)
  • Jonny Goodman and Micah Bucey of Judson Memorial Church (yes, OK, I stole this one from Jason, but I added specific names!)
  • Our new Friends of Flux.
  • Our newest member Matthew Archambault who has already made an awesome positive impact.
  • The artists who participate in Flux Sunday, who inspire me every week and have pushed me to my most creatively productive year as a playwright ever.
  • To Ellen, for trusting me with her beautiful play, Ajax in Iraq.
  • For the Large Hadron Collider
Tiffany Clementi:

  • Family, Friends, Flux, Food.
  • I am thankful for all the people who come to our shows and events.
  • I am thankful for the community of people we have and Friends of Flux, without them we would be seven of us sitting in a room.
  • I am thankful for all the talented artists that somehow we have a magnet for.
  • I thankful to be part of such a great company.

Learn how you can get in on the Epic Thanks action here, and, you know, THANK YOU.

Read the full story

What Is Flux Sunday, The 2.0 Version

Saturday, November 20, 2010 1 comments

On November 26, 2007, in our 6th post on the Flux Blog, I explained Flux Sundays, our then year old weekly workshop process. This process has undergone a subtle but important evolution, and it seems therefore important to post a revised explanation of just what, exactly, a Flux Sunday is and does.

Flux Sunday is a weekly workshop process that brings 10-30 actors, playwrights and directors together to read and lightly stage 3-8 scenes. Directors have an hour and a half to two hours to lightly stage the scenes, and then we gather together for the last hour to share them. Flux Sundays are almost always on Sunday (natch) from 4 to 7PM at our new home, Judson Memorial Church.

The goals of Flux Sunday are:

  • To build a creative home for Members and Friends of Flux through the sustained, long term collaboration of making theatre on a weekly basis
  • To develop new plays with the intention of moving them into Have Anothers, Food:Souls and full production.
  • To explore relationships with new playwrights, actors and directors beyond the hit-and-run of auditions/interviews.
  • To empower Members and Friends of Flux to shape Flux's destiny by inviting new artists to Flux Sunday through our new Guest Policy.
This new Guest Policy allows any permanent invitee of Flux Sunday to invite any artist to attend any Flux Sunday they attend themselves. This not only brings new talent to Flux, but allows our core community an active role in shaping Flux's work. The exception is playwrights, who should still submit plays through fluxplaysubmission@gmail.com. This policy difference reflects the profound impact playwrights have on the Flux Sunday experience.

While these workshops were previously closed to audience, our revised Mission Statement and Core Values seek to blur the divisions between artists and audience in building a creative home. To that end, we're continuing to extend the audience's role in our developmental work, and as Flux Sunday is the heart of that work, it makes sense to open it up. Therefore, the last hour of Flux Sunday (usually 6PM) is now open to members of Judson and Flux's wider community. Look for the next scheduled Flux Sunday in our Up Next section, and email me at gus at fluxtheatre dot org if you'd like to attend.

Furthermore, our last audition process has convinced me that we need a better way of meeting new artists. Not only did we end up seeing less than 10% of those who submitted, but the audition process itself is antithetical to the collaborative process of making theatre, and it is very easy to mistake an average artist who is a great auditioner for a great artist who is an average auditioner. The warm, collaborative spirit of Flux Sunday seems a far better way to sound the true spirit of an artist. To that end, I'm hoping to soon announce a new way of joining us for Flux Sundays - please stay tuned for that.

Flux Sunday was one of the first programmatic decisions the Ensemble made after our founding, and it remains the cornerstone and catalyst of everything we do. Hopefully, this new evolution will make us even stronger. Read the full story

Pictures From The Feud

Thursday, November 18, 2010 1 comments

(Focused on the Feud)
What a night! Over 100 people showed up for our Flux Family Feud Benefit. We'll be following up with the answers from the Feud itself (there was some fun controversy), but for now, we'll let these pictures equal a whole bunch of words. All photos by Isaiah Tanenbaum.
(The Passion of the X. Pictured: Kelly X'Donnell, Debargo Senyal, Michael Roderick, Erica Livingston)
(The APHRA BEHNS huddle. Pictured: Tim Errickson, Tiffany Clementi, J Holtham, Micah Bucey, Martin Denton)
(THE TYRONES celebrate. Pictured: Debargo Senyal, Michael Roderick, Jason Paradine, Erica Livingston, Catherine Porter)
(Fast Money...and Faster Matthew Archambault)
(Raffle maestro Tiffany Clementi showing Michael Davis the ropes)
(Artist Ryan Andes sizing the prize to fit the wrist of Carissa "I Own The Flux Raffle" Cordes)
(Just a little Rock and Roll Romantic for you, Buzzer Lovers. Pictured: Christina Shipp, and a quarter chambault.)
(Let's hear it for the Feud!)
Read the full story

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Flux Sunday, November 14th

Ken Glickfeld to the rescue!

With our usual Flux Sunday spaces occupied, Ken rode to our rescue, allowing our theatre-making momentum to continue. I had thought we'd only be able to read scripts, but he was willing for us to stage scenes, and though that shift led to a time miscalculation on my part, some lovely work happened.

Playwrights: Katherine Burger (Ever Ever), Fengar Gael (Devil Dog Six), Brian Pracht (Unplugged In), August Schulenburg (The Hand That Moves)

Directors: Heather Cohn, Katherine, Brian, August

Actors: Jane Taylor, Kimberly Klein, David Crommett, Ken Glickfeld, Lynn Kenny, Alisha Spielmann, Ryan Andes, Kathleen Wise, Chudney Sykes, Damon Kinard, Candice Holdorf, Leila Okafur

Highlights:
-Um, holy crap, Lynn Kenny. Evidently, she had a big bowlful of Acting for breakfast. Not only did she ably navigate Lois' tricky future-vision scene in The Hand That Moves, but her performance as Leah in Unplugged In was high strung as Christmas lights on the top of the tree. Yeah, that metaphor may have failed, but how would you describe that awesomeness?
-The many hats of the day award went to impressive newcomer Chudney Sykes, who rocked out a lovestruck do-gooder, a Jamaican nurse, and outraged slacker dude, respectively.
-Strong direction from both Heather and Brian sharing the end of Unplugged In, with Lynn's scene above matched by go-for-broke turns in the blinding scene from Candice as Zero and Leila Okafur as Leah.
-Ryan Andes's playing of Jean-Pierre in Devil Dog Six - he was as French as a baguette made out of berets (metaphor failure again?).
-Kathleen Wise and Alisha "Paint It Black" Spielmann making some invisible/banana children feel all too real.

If you were there, what did you remember before the Feud benefit made you forget? Read the full story

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Friends of Flux

This post continues on our updates on the changes that came out of our Annual Retreat - past posts have focused on Core Values, Aesthetic Values, and Membership Structure.

As mentioned in our previous post on Membership, moving away from the two-tiered Membership structure necessitated the creation of a second relationship circle. We wanted to honor the people closest to Flux who weren't right for formal Membership, and so created a special relationship category called Friends of Flux.

Friends of Flux, or 'FOFs', are the artists and audience members who have shown a sustained commitment to Flux through some combination of time, resources and talent. FOFs have supported our work through artistic collaboration, committed show attendance, production support, and financial contributions; and we want to honor and celebrate that ongoing relationship.

What exactly are FOFs? We're still in the process of figuring that out, but we know what FOFs and Flux should be for each other:

Ambassadors:

  • Flux and FOFs will use social media and word of mouth to spread the news about each other's work, including posting links to each other on our mutual websites
  • FOFs have direct access to suggest the work of worthy theatre artists to Flux, and Flux will give those suggestions priority consideration for Flux Sunday and other artistic opportunities
Accomplices:
  • FOFS will look for opportunities to support Flux's mission through volunteering when available
  • Flux will pass on opportunities to FOFs, looking to move forward each others work when possible
Allies:
  • Flux hopes to create a special social media group for FOFs, possibly called FluxBook. This will allow FOFs to communicate directly, providing FOF-specific opportunities to each other, and building an even stronger community
  • Flux will look for other opportunities for increased access, including insider emails and monthly town halls, called SpeakEasy, where FOFs and Membership share ideas over drinks post Flux Sundays
  • FOFs will have increased access to Flux process, through priority invites to special events and the rehearsal process
  • FOFs will participate in a poll for season decisions, giving everyone a voice; Flux will respond to directly to the ideas generated by such discussions
Artists:
  • FOFs will have increased access to artistic opportunities - special callbacks for actors, streamlined director proposals, priority script consideration. Non-theatre artist FOFs will have other ways to engage creatively with the community
  • Flux and FOFs will actively look for chances to work together, prioritizing such collaborations
Audience:
  • Flux will provide priority discount tickets to FOFs when available
  • FOFs will actively recruit new audience members and potential FOFs, and receive discount tix and special events to help do so
Awesome!
  • We want FOFdom to be fun! Silly titles, FOF happy hours, FOF SWAG, whatever is fun and Fluxy
This give and take was in large part already happening, but we wanted to make this kind of relationship official as a means of empowering FOFs to engage more deeply with Flux, and for Membership to better serve our FOFs. We like it, and so, we want to put a ring on it.

Friend of Flux status is re-evaluated every year to make sure both sides are getting something meaningful out of the relationship. We'll shortly be posting a list of our inaugural Friends of Flux - it's a pretty amazing group of audience and artists, and we're extremely fortunate to have them as the foundation of our mission to build a creative home.

If Friends of Flux sounds like something you'd like to be a part of, just ask a Member; we're trying to strike the balance between small enough to matter but big enough to count; and we want to make sure that everyone who works with us, FOF or not, feels valued and respected as per all those newly minted Core Values of ours. FOFdom is a work in progress, but we're excited to see where it goes. Read the full story

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Membership

This post continues on our updates on the changes that came out of our Annual Retreat - past posts have focused on Core Values and Aesthetic Values.

A change in Flux's Membership structure has been in effect on the ground for some time now, and we thought it was time to tell you about it. Some of you may be curious about the inner mechanics of Flux; other structure junkies may find this change interesting in its move away from organizational rigidity towards a flexibility based on mutual trust.

Those paying close attention may have been familiar with our past two-tiered Membership structure of Core Members and Members. We decided that we would move away from that two-tiered structure into a single Membership category. There will be no more Core Members of Flux. Instead, there will simply be Members, all of whom have the same level of rights and responsibilities. Membership is now seen as an Artistic Partnership. All Members of Flux are committed to an Artistic Partnership with each other. (To clarify, Members will still be called Members - Artistic Partnership is capitalized here as the central definition of Membership for emphasis, but we are not changing our titles to Artistic Partners).

What does this Artistic Partnership look like?

  • It is committed - all Members are doing a similar amount of work.It is based on equality - there will be a single voting process that treats all Membership votes equally. Department Directors will retain control over the day to day functioning of their departments.
  • It is built on belief in each other - the season discussion includes a frank conversation about the artistic needs of each Member. There is no system of artistic guarantees, rather an open conversation about how each Member will fit into a current season. Because Membership is an Artistic Partnership, this conversation will naturally lead to artistic opportunities for Members, because we will want to create those opportunities for each other. This discussion of artistic opportunities balances the needs of individual artists with the overall good of the Ensemble, with Members expected to be mature contributors to that discussion.
  • It is maintained by trust - rather than an overly complex laundry list of responsibilities, Members are expected to be self-starting catalysts who don't need to be told what to do, or always checked up on to make sure they're completing work. An Artistic Partner is someone who looks for every opportunity to move the Ensemble forward.
  • It is long term - as Artistic Partners, we are committed to each other, and the Ensemble, for the long haul.

The primary rights of Membership are voting rights. All Members vote in all major decisions the Ensemble makes. The current decisions that require a Membership vote are as follows:

Votes that belong to all members:
  • Season selection of plays (major majority)
  • Season theme (majority)
  • Director selection for full production (major majority)
  • Budget (majority)
  • Performance space (majority)
  • Performance schedule/calendar (majority)
  • New Members and Removing Members (unanimous)
  • Friends Of Flux (majority)
  • Changing the working agreement/amendments - mission, core & aesthetic values (major majority)
  • Retreat invites – voting structure (unique)
  • Adding or subtracting programming (major majority)
The primary responsibilities of Membership are unique to each Member, with the expectation that each Member will be contributing a similar amount of effort. However, some responsibilities exist for all Members, including:

Responsibilities that belong to all members:
  • Taking a daily leadership role in the governance of Flux
  • Making significant artistic contributions
  • Contributing to the execution of every aspect of production
  • Showing up for load-in, tech, front of a house, and strike; and providing pre-tech production assistance
  • Attending Flux meetings regularly
  • Showing financial stewardship by helping fundraising efforts
  • Being an ambassador for Flux
Why this change? Because the division between Core and Regular Members, with their differing levels of rights and responsibilities, was simply unsustainable. We learned after a lot of trial and error that at the leadership level of our Ensemble, we needed an equality of rights and responsibilities. But this change required the creation of a new circle of engagement for people making significant contributions to Flux that for whatever reason were not able or willing to commit to the structure of Artistic Partnership outlined above.

That circle became Friends of Flux, and it will be the subject of our very next post. If there are any other Ensemble companies reading this post, I'd love to hear how your org structure matured over time, and what you learned along the way. Read the full story

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Flux Family Feud Benefit

Monday, November 15, 2010 1 comments

(Looking for new posts? Scroll down; the Benefit will be on top until 11/15!)
Doors open at 7:00pm, Feud starts at 8:00pm!

Join us on Monday, Nov. 15 for a benefit to support our fourth season: Don't Look Away.

Teams of select NYC theatre professionals will compete in a game of theatre-themed Family Feud at the beautiful North Cabana rooftop of the Maritime Hotel (88 9th Ave @17th Street). Tickets are $15 in advance, $20 at the door, and include free food!

Just like the TV show the most important part of the game is the survey! We've already had over 50 theatre lovers respond, but we're shooting for at least 100, so please fill out this fun theatre survey here. It only takes a few minutes! The answers will be used at the benefit on the 15th.

Can't join us on the November 15? That's OK! You can still support us by buying raffle tickets. Prizes include hand-made jewelry, free headshots and a paid walk-on role on a new feature film starring Jim Carrey! Learn more and purchase raffle tickets here.

Your game show host, Matthew Archambault
(recently seen in Jacob's House)

Contestants to be announced soon!

Purchase Benefit Tickets
$15 in advance (includes free food!)
$20 at the door


Special thanks to Kristy Caldwell for the graphics: www.shortdivision.com
Read the full story

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The Viral Age, Part 1

During the ends of the aughts (which we are technically still in, no?), I spent some time prowling this web of ours looking for what it would be named. Most of the names seemed to revolve around some unfortunate rhyme with aughts (Naughty Aughties?); but after seeing Mac Rogers' Viral (adventurous theatre producers, read it, recover, then produce it) I thought about how viral was the perfect way to describe our current age, going beyond this decade into the next.

Yet, I suppose somewhat ironically, The Viral Aughts (or Age) has not exactly caught on, or so says our friend Google. Yet the metastasizing power of online thought to spread for good or ill seems the defining characteristic of our age; and whether you wax poetic about its possibilities or lament its dangers, it must be wrestled with. This is the first of a series of posts that will explore what impact the Viral Age will have (and is already having) on theatre, and vice verse.

The first change is that now everything is local; or more specifically, everything local is also global. The idea that we’re now all intimately connected would be old if it wasn’t for the fact that, like that other old/new idea, quantum physics, we still don’t fully understand it.

An example occurred over this weekend. TDF announced that there would be no Wasserstein Award, because none of the 19 plays met their judges’ standards. Twenty years ago, there might have been a letter to an editor. But there might not have even been that; those who stumbled upon the news might simply have thought the award one among many, and entitled to execute the mission of that award to the best of their personal judgment.

But that is local thinking. Now, a decision about 19 plays made by a few people in a room takes on national significance. It becomes a symbol for the ongoing gender inequity in season selection. As a result, what might have previously seemed a local disappointment now seems a national injustice, and a petition (which I signed) achieves 800 signatures in a few days, and a national movement is born to read the 19 plays.

We see this playing out in politics: candidates are seen through an ideological and national lens first, with practical, local concerns secondary. And so moderate Republicans and southern Democrats grow increasingly rare; and so candidates with little experience but the right national ideology are catapulted to fame.

And in many ways, that’s a good thing. Because those decisions made by a few people in small rooms may have seemed local, but cumulatively they led to national consequences; including gender inequity in season selection.

It is no longer possible to make local decisions without considering their long term global impact, not only because the world has run out of frontiers, and our pioneer actions now must live neighbor to their consequences; but because the whole world really is watching.

But whatever good there is in this Viral Age, there are also major challenges; because however our online selves might lap up the miles, our bodies still sleep in a single bed. And I’m worried that we’re neglecting the wisdom of the local for the global, and I wonder what role theatre might play in finding a balance.

That’s for another post; I need to leave to spend some time with good people in a small room…playing Family Feud.

Read the full story

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Flux Sunday, November 7th

Thursday, November 11, 2010 0 comments

I think we're going to like it here.

Our fourth Flux Sunday at Judson was a moving recovery from our haunted Halloween Sunday. really strong, heartfelt work marked all 3 scenes.

Playwrights: Katherine Burger (Ever Ever), Fengar Gael (Devil Dog Six), August Schulenburg (The Hand That Moves)

Directors: Tiffany Clementi, Katherine, August

Actors: Alisha Spielmann, Kari Riely, Mariam Habib, Gretchen Poulos, Nora Hummel, Jason Howard, Carissa Cordes, Isaiah Tanenbaum, Ken Glickfeld, Becky Kelly, Marnie Schulenburg, Jane Taylor

-Marnie and Mariam making the ex-lover reunion scene between Lois and Aaseya in The Hand That Moves (formerly The Baby Play), especially Marnie's handling of the rush of fear over Aaseya's safety.
-Tiffany directing the living daylights out of Devil Dog Six! Jane leaning cool against the wall, Carissa skipping fiercely between the horses, all of it flowing from one strong stage picture to the next.
-Jason Howard's crocodilian Dial in Ever Ever was as close to a tour de force as one can get in a hastily staged scene: strutting, leering, carelessly picking the lost boy from his teeth.
-Kari's handling of Paula's confession - full of simple feeling in a difficult monologue.
-Nancy's moving read as the dreaming lost boy terrorized by Dial. I won't ever forget that scene that left my cheeks wet.

If you were there, what do you remember? Read the full story

Feud Contestants Announced

MEET THE CONTESTANTS OF FLUX FAMILY FEUD!


MARTIN DENTON is the founder, editor, and chief reviewer of nytheatre.com. He is the Executive Director of nytheatre.com's nonprofit parent organization, The New York Theatre Experience, Inc. (NYTE); the editor of NYTE's annual Plays and Playwrights anthologies, along with the collections Playing with Canons and Unpredictable Plays; and the founding producer of nytheatrecast, NYC's first original, regularly scheduled theatre podcast. He also designs and codes all of NYTE's websites. Martin received an OTTY (Our Town Thanks You) Award for contributions to the community in 2008; and with NYTE's Managing Director Rochelle Denton, he was honored with the 2008 Stewardship Award from the New York Innovative Theatre Foundation. nytheatre.com won the Show Your Impact Contest sponsored by Microsoft Corporation in 2009 in recognition of outstanding use of technology in a nonprofit organization.


DEBARGO SENYAL can be seen in the forthcoming feature films "Today's Special", arriving in theaters on Nov 19, 2010 (in NYC, at the Sunshine Cinema, on East Houston St), and "Drawing with Chalk", arriving in theaters on March 25, 2011 (in NYC, at the Quad Cinema, in the West Village). He can also be seen on television with roles in three feature films, all currently airing on Showtime Networks: "Everybody's Fine" (opposite Robert De Niro), "Red Hook", and "Quarter Life Crisis". Previous TV guest appearances on "Running Wilde", "The Unusuals", "All My Children", "The Sopranos", and all three "Law & Orders". NYC stage credits include "Queens Boulevard (the musical)" (Signature Theatre Co), "Looking for the Pony" (Vital Theatre Co), "Port Authority Throw Down" (Working Theater), "Harvest" (East Coast Artists), "Commedia Dell Smartass" (New Georges), "Telethon" (Clubbed Thumb), "Women of Trachis" (Target Margin), "Pulling the Lever" (Rising Circle Theater Collective), "Browntown" (FringeNYC '04), "In Transit" (FringeNYC '06), "Crossings" (FringeNYC '09), "Smoking Bloomberg (NYMF '06), "Love Sucks" (NYMF '07), "Punk Princess" (NYMF '09), "Millicent Scowlworthy" (SPF '06), "Barriers"(Desipina), "I_NY" (Ma-Yi Theater).


MICHAEL RODERICK is part of R2D2 Productions, one of the teams producing Scottsboro Boys on Broadway this fall; he worked off-Broadway as associate producer of the rock romance Rooms. He recently produced The Gospel According to Joshua at the Midtown International Theatre Festival, The Cure at NYMF, and Scared Skinny, winner of The 2010 New York International Fringe Festival Overall Excellence Award for Outstanding Solo Show. He started Small Pond Entertainment eight years ago when he found that it was virtually impossible for an artist to be at their best when they also had to produce. He developed a system for the advancement of a producing organization to be the umbrella for shows that lacked producers. Over the years Small Pond has become a major name in the NYC Theatre Community having presented shows in numerous venues and with hundreds of different artists. As Artistic Director, Michael has produced over 50 shows since his arrival in NY in September 2002. He has also been the organizer of networking events that have included representatives from The New York Musical Theatre Festival, Fractured Atlas, and RWS casting and Associates. He holds a BA in Secondary Ed English and Theatre performance from Rhode Island College and an MA from NYU in Educational Theatre Colleges and Communities. Michael taught English at LaSalle Academy where he was the head of the drama program for 8 years. Michael blogs daily at oneproducerinthecity.typepad.com.


CATHERINE PORTER has served as lead and/or co-producer for Peculiar Works Project's 80+ site-specific plays and large-scale performance events, featuring the work of over 100 artists annually from across disciplines. She has performed many leading roles in PWP productions; appeared Off Broadway in Mac Wellman's Obie Award-winning Crowbar; and acted with such Off-off companies as 78th Street Theatre Lab, Empty Space Theatre and Manhattan Punch Line. She co-founded the multi-disciplinary arts series, stART, at Judson Church. Catherine is the Development Director for the renowned performance space, Dixon Place, where she also served as Interim Executive Director (winter '01). From 1999-2003, she worked as Individual Giving Coordinator for HERE Arts Center. A Texas native, Catherine graduated from Texas Christian University in Fort Worth with a BFA in Theatre. She is a member of Actors Equity Association and Step-Up New York, and is on the board of the Alliance of Resident Theatres/New York.

J. HOLTHAM's plays include: January 2nd, Creative Writing, Lovers to Bed, 11th Hour, Race Music, Household Name, Splendid, and Togetherness. His work has been seen and developed at the Ensemble Studio Theatre (Posterity, Thicker Than Water 2001), BE Company, Williamstown Theatre Festival, the Magic Theatre (SF), Clubbed Thumb, the Vital Theatre, New Dramatists, Broken Watch Theater Company, the 24Seven Lab and others. His play, Manifesto, was commissioned by Time Warner and Second Stage Theatre. Several of his plays are published by Playscripts, Inc. He is a member of E.S.T. and an alumnus of Youngblood. M.F.A.: The Actors Studio Drama School/New School for Social Research. He has worked as a teaching artist for TDF, Vital Theatre, and MCC. He is a founder and Co-Artistic Director of The New Black Fest, a festival celebrating the work of Black playwrights. He blogs about theatre and culture under the name 99 Seats at Parabasis and other places. He is a proud product of the New York and New Jersey public education systems.

TIFFANY CLEMENTI is thrilled to be a Core member of Flux Theatre Ensemble. For Flux, she played Leah in Jacob's House, Marie in The Lesser Seductions of History, Nola in Angel Eaters, Philostrate in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Tycle in Rue. Tiffany was the assistant director for Life is a Dream and serves as Flux’s Food:Soul Coordinator as well as many other responsibilities. Other roles include Laura in Knave of Hearts (InnovativeStages), Connie in Acceptable Losses (To & Fro Productions), Goldie Lox in The Three Bears Hanukkah (Grove Street Playhouse), and Sylvia in Sylvia (The Little Theatre), and performances with the Hudson Shakespeare Company (Cymbeline and Coriolanus). Her credits onscreen include the films Couple Hood and Mercy. A graduate of the University of Central Florida, Tiffany has studied at the Chautauqua Conservatory Theatre, and in New York City. She is also frequent collaborator, directing and acting, with Wild Child Presents. Much love to her family and friends.


MICAH BUCEY is a writer, performer, and seminary student. He sometimes writes shows for himself to perform and sometimes writes shows for others to perform. Micah proudly serves as a Community Minister at Judson Memorial Church, where he eagerly co-chairs programs such as Bailout Theater (www.judson.org/bailouttheater). He also regularly and energetically performs with his two-man-musical-theatre-post-punk-band The Gay Agenda (www.thatgayagendaband.wordpress.com) who can next be seen in their December 13th Holiday Special at Joe's Pub. Through both gigs, Micah furthers his extremely-thinly-veiled plot to take over the world.



JASON PARADINE
is a co-founder of Flux Theatre Ensemble. For Flux, Jason has been seen as an actor in Rattlers, Hearts Like Fists, and Rue. He was set designer for Jacob's House, Other Bodies, Riding the Bull and Life is a Dream and has served as Production Manger for all of Flux’s shows. Jason works as a carpenter at the Public Theater and as an actor, production manager, carpenter and set designer, Jason has spanned the East Coast.




ERICA LIVINGSTON is a doer of things, especially theater. Originally from Jackson, MS, Erica now calls Brooklyn her home. She is currently an ensemble member and co-artistic director of The New York Neo-Futurists, recipients of the 2010 Café Cino Fellowship Award, named 2009 People of the Year by nytheater.com and winners of The Village Voice Readerʼs Poll for Best Performance Artists. As a Neo-Futurist she writes, performs and directs in the NYNFʼs signature show, “Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind,” an ongoing ever-changing attempt to perform 30 original plays in 60 minutes every Friday and Saturday night in the East Village which the New York Times says, “Is the ideal entertainment for an audience with eclectic taste” and Backstage says, “Like the glory days of Saturday Night Live only funnier and slightly surreal.” She has been a Neo for four years now and has written 99 plays for “TMLMTBGB” and also wrote and performed in “The Soup Show,” which ran throughout March at Here Arts Center and was nominated for Best Performance Art Production 2010 by The Innovative Theater Awards. In writing, performing and directing plays every week for “Too Much Light…” Currently Erica is working with St. Annʼs Warehouse on The Puppet Lab for their 2010-2011 season. She is building a piece about the Death of Sam Cooke using puppets, quantum mechanics and synethesia that she will perform in May at St. Annʼs in their annual Labapalooza! Festival. Erica is also a co-creator and member of the band Fantasy Grandma, a hip-hop duo who perform in full old age makeup, gold and teal wind-suits rapping about being elderly. You can see more Fantasy Grandma at www.fantasygrandma.com.

TIM ERRICKSON is the Artistic Director of Boomerang Theatre Company. His new play Endless Summer Nights recently premiered with Boomerang in September 2010, and was a “Pick of the Week” by nytheatre.com. Previous Boomerang credits include directing productions of Fenway, Burning The Old Man (6 NYIT Nominations, including Outstanding Direction), Stoppard Goes Electric, Much Ado about Nothing and As You Like It. Other recent directing credits include The Desk Set for Retro Productions (6 NYIT Nominations including Outstanding Production), Brad Fraser’s Unidentified Human Remains and the True Nature of Love, Racine’s Phaedre, Jamie Pachino’s Famous for Fifteen Years, Michael Weller’s Moonchildren (OOBR Award for Outstanding Production) and Brian Smallwood’s The Wedding Play. Boomerang was awarded the 2008 Caffe Cino Fellowship for Excellence in Off-Off Broadway, and has reinvented the rotating repertory model for the Off-Off/Indie theatre. In addition to Boomerang, Tim has been on staff at Lincoln Center Theater and New Dramatists. He serves on the Honorary Awards Committee for the New York Innovative Theatre Awards and is the current president of the Off-Off Broadway Community Dish, a service organization for the Off-Off/Indie Theatre Community.

More info and contestants to be announced soon!
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Flux Sunday, October 31st

Thursday, November 4, 2010 0 comments

Our 3rd Flux Sunday at Judson Memorial Church had the ill-fated luck of falling on Halloween, and a haunted Flux Sunday it was indeed, with mysteriously disappearing accents, bedeviled containers of chocolate, and a small turnout. But, like the valiant ghostbusters we are, we persevered to get some good work done.

Playwrights: Katherine Burger (Ever Ever), Fengar Gael (Devil Dog Six), August Schulenburg (Untitled)

Actors: Ken Glickfeld, Carissa Cordes, Gretchen Poulos, David Crommett, Tiffany Clementi, Matthew Archamabult, Damon Kinard

Director: Katherine, Heather Cohn

Highlights Included:
- The debut of Damon Kinard, who gave a strong read as the charming tyrant husband in The Baby Play
-The tag-team comic duo of Ken Glickfeld and Matthew Archamabult as adult Lost Boys Tiggy and Weasel in Katherine's Ever Ever. I admit, I nearly broke.
-Fengar bringing pages from Devil Dog Six, a play we've long admired but not yet played with - excited for more!

If you were there, and weren't devoured by zombies on your way home, what were your highlights? Read the full story