Flux Theatre Ensemble's Blog

Flux Theatre Ensemble produces transformative theatre that explores and awakens the capacity for change. As an ensemble-artist driven company, we believe that long-term collaboration and rigorous creative development can unite artists and audiences to build a creative home in New York.
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FluxBlog: Act II

[ Wednesday, December 7, 2011 | 6 comments ]
This blog has served us well. But with the new and gorgeous website up and running it was time to move on, and move in. The FluxBlog can now be found within the main Flux website at www.fluxtheatre.org/blog

Fear not; all the old posts, comments, pictures, and even tags have been ported over.

We'll keep this blog up for old links, but if you're interested to see what Flux is up to, the new blog will be the place you wanna go. There are already photos from the 2nd Annual Family Feud and a round-up of our most recent Flux Sunday, and many more posts to come.

Onward, and upward! Read the full story »

 

Flux Family Feud On The Move

[ Wednesday, November 16, 2011 | 3 comments ]
Breaking news: the Flux Family Feud has moved locations, from our previous home at the Cabanas to the sweetly swank (and swankly sweet) Fonata's, located at 105 Eldridge Street (between Grand and Broome).

So see you at the new location - and don't forget to take the survey, buy some raffle tix and get your tix in advance for a discount!

So close to Feud time...we can't wait to see you there!
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Meet the Contestants of Flux Family Feud!

[ Thursday, November 10, 2011 | 0 comments ]
We are happy to announce an incredible lineup of contestants for our second Family Feud Benefit on Nov 21! We hope you can join us. Buy your tickets in advance for only $15 online. Tickets are $20 at the door. If you can't join us on Nov 21, you can still support Flux by purchasing a raffle ticket. You don't need to be at the event to win. We have some amazing prizes this year including a PAID walk-on role on Law & Order SVU, a themed illustrated portrait of your pet and an Anything Goes poster signed by Sutton Foster and members of the Tony Award winning cast! Get your raffle tickets here.

Now, without further ado, we announce this year's contestants for Flux Family Feud! See you on November 21 at Fontanas - 105 Eldridge Street (between Grand and Broome) ((and yup, this is a location change!))

JOHNNA ADAMS
Johnna is the 2011 recipient of the Princess Grace Award. On her wild ride as a playwright so far, she has mingled with an all inmate cast at the Mitchellville Theatre Project at the Iowa Women’s Correctional Institution In the Absence of Angels, 2006) and participated in a fully nude talkback in front of a nude audience at the Naturist Society’s Western Naturist Gathering at the Lupin Naturist Club (Nude on the Beach, 2002). Other plays include Gidion’s Knot; The Anguisher; Hripsime; Hued Moll; Lickspittles, Buttonholers and Damned Pernicious Go-Betweens; The Angel Eaters Trilogy (produced by Flux Theatre Ensemble); Sans Merci, Cockfighters and The Sacred Geometry of S&M Porn. She is a past Reva Shiner Award winner, winner of the OC Weekly’s Best Original Play award (twice), finalist for the Princess Grace Award, finalist for the Christopher Brian Wolk Award, finalist for the National Art’s Club’s Playwrights First Prize; finalist for the William Saroyan Prize and New York Innovative Theatre Award nominee. Her play Lickspittles, Buttonholers, and Damned Pernicious Go-Betweens will be produced by Impetuous Theatre in 2012. Johnna’s plays Angel Eaters, Rattlers, 8 Little Antichrists, Sans Merci, Cockfighters and The Sacred Geometry of S&M Porn are published by Original Works Publishing (originalworksonline.com)


REED BIRNEY
Reed Birney just finished appearing in Adam Rapp's Dreams of Flying Dreams of Falling at The Atlantic. He received a Special Drama Desk Award last May in recognition of the three plays in which he appeared last season: A Small Fire at Playwrights Horizons and, at the Roundabout Underground, Tigers Be Still and The Dream of the Burning Boy. He was in Annie Baker’s hit, Circle Mirror Transformation at Playwrights Horizons. For the New York premiere of Sarah Kane’s Blasted at Soho Rep, he was nominated for a Drama Desk Award. He was Dr. Sweet in the original New York cast of Bug and played Tony Blair in Stuff Happens at the Public. Next summer he will appear as Vanya in Annie Baker's translation of Uncle Vanya at Soho Rep, directed by Sam Gold. He has also received three OBIEs and a Drama Desk Award. On film, he can be seen in Clint Eastwood’s Changeling, Morning Glory with Harrison Ford and Jeff Lipsky’s Twelve Thirty. In August he filmed Imogene with Annette Benning and Kristin Wiig.


JAMES COMTOIS
James Comtois is the co-founding co-artistic director of the New York-based theatre company Nosedive Productions, which was named a "Person of the Year" by nytheatre.com in 2009. He's written over 20 plays in the past 10 years, many of which have been staged by Nosedive. The New York Times recently compared him to Conor McPherson and Tracy Letts. Published plays include The Adventures of Nervous-Boy, Suburban Peepshow, and Infectious Opportunity. Other recently staged plays include Colorful World, The Little One, Otty and Captain Moonbeam. He lives in Brooklyn and has two cats. He thinks they're very cute.


JOSHUA CONKEL
Joshua Conkel is a playwright, culture vulture and Navy brat who hails from the pine forests of rural Washington State. He is the author of MilkMilkLemonade (Best Off Off Broadway Show of 2009-NY Press, published by Playscripts), The Chalk Boy (Published by Original Works Publishing), Lonesome Winter (co written with Megan Hill), The Sluts of Sutton Drive and I Wanna Destroy You as well as countless short plays, of which he is a prolific and enthusiastic writer. Conkel’s work has been seen all over the country as well as internationally and has been developed by The Management, Soho Rep, Ensemble Studio Theatre, Old Vic, Dixon Place, The Flea and more. He is the Co-Artistic Director of The Management, and a member of Ensemble Studio Theatre, The Soho Rep Writers/Directors Lab, TOSOS and The Dramatists Guild. He is currently finishing a graphic novel adaptation of The Chalk Boy for First Second Books, an imprint of Macmillan, and was recently named one of Next Magazine’s “Who’s Next 2011.” Alumnist of Youngblood and the TS Eliot Old Vic US/UK Exchange. BFA in theater, Cornish College of the Arts.

SHAY GINES
Shay is a founder and driving force of the New York Innovative Theatre Awards. She graduated from the Actors Training Program at the University of Utah with a dual degree in theatre and marketing. She then made the smartest decision of her life and (despite her father’s wishes) chose to pursue a career in theatre. Since then she has done everything from spackling walls at the Pasadena Playhouse and running follow-spot for the Pioneer Theatre Company to serving as the Artist in Residence for Touchstone Theatre. She has performed in theatres of all sizes from 30 seats to 1,000 across the country, from L.A. to NYC. She is an award winning producer whose Off and Off-Off-Broadway shows include: Home Again Home Again Jiggity Jig, What the F**k?!, Hamlet and Muse of Fire. Shay was a Founding Member and the Producing Director for Esperance Theatre Company. She is currently one half of the producing team for Theatrical Fair, an active member of TOSOS II and of Emerging Artists Theatre Company where she also serves as an Associate Director.


ELLEN McLAUGHLIN
Ellen McLaughlin is an actor (Angels in America) and playwright (Tongue of a Bird, Iphigenia and Other Daughters and Septimus and Clarissa among many others) who is delighted to have been produced by Flux Theatre Ensemble in the summer of 2011. (Ajax in Iraq.)



ALFREDO NARCISO
Broadway: The Motherf**ker With the Hat (LAByrinth/Public/Gerald Schoenfeld Theater), A Streetcar Named Desire (Roundabout/Studio 54) New York: After (Partial Comfort), Thinner Than Water (LAByrinth), Measure for Measure; Chair (TFANA), Safe (Studio Dante), Drunken City (Playwrights Horizons), Ivo Van Hove’s Misanthrope (New York Theater Workshop), Microcrisis (Ma-Yi), Edgewise (Play Company/Page 73), among others. Regional: ART (Elliot Norton/IRNE nominations), Huntington (IRNE nomination), Two River, Long Wharf, HBO Comedy Arts Festival, Sundance Theater Lab, among others. Film/TV: Elliot Loves, Living & Dining, The Guys, “Unforgettable”, “Person of Interest”, “Law & Order”, “L&O: CI”, “Ugly Betty”, “Third Watch”, “All My Children”, “Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn”, among others. Recipient of the Charles Bowden award and member of Ensemble Studio Theater and Partial Comfort Productions.

SUSAN LOUISE O'CONNOR
Blithe Spirit on Broadway (Theatre World Award, Dorothy Loudon Fellowship, Outer Critics Circle Nom. Other NYC credits include: Desperate Writers, Apostasy, Marion Bridge, Children at Play, Paper Cranes, What to Do When You Hate All Your Friends, Never Swim Alone, See Bob Run, Susan Gets Some Play and Nerve. Winner of the NYC Fringe Festival's best actor award, two-time Innovative Award nominee and winner for lead actress in Packawallop’s the silent concerto, a nytheatre.com’s ‘person of the year’ & recently named a ‘Best-Kept Theater Secret’ by Our Town NY. Film & television credits include: Flying Scissors, Coming Up Roses, Acts of Worship, The Moment, The Day My Towers Fell, The Poets, Parallel Passage and Law & Order: CI.

LORI E. PARQUET
Lori E. Parquet is an actor and teaching artist from New Orleans, Louisiana. Like many of the students she teaches, her interest in theater began in high school in an after school program for acting. She went on to further her training by receiving a B.A. in Theater Arts from Cornell University. While a student there, she starred in plays such as Antigone, Metamorphoses, and A Midsummer's Night Dream. Upon graduating, Lori moved to New York City where she has performed with companies such as Flux Theatre Ensemble, The Drilling Company, and Freedom Train Productions. She has starred in various stage productions such as Dog Act, Murder in the Cathedral and Ajax in Iraq. Regionally, she has performed at The Kitchen Theatre in Ithaca, NY and Peguin Repertory Theatre in Stony Point, NY. Lori also made her international debut recently with Epic Theatre Ensemble performing in Pillars of Society at Teater Ibsen in Skien, Norway. She is also an original member of the ensemble for Dispatches From (A)mended America, a new play taken from interviews conducted all over the South in the month leading up to the Obama Inauguration. Lori has starred in the short films A Love Grows in Brooklyn, Take One, and Keep the Change. When she is not acting or directing herself, she brings her love of theater to the New York City Public Schools as a teaching artist with Possible Arts, Epic Theater Ensemble, and Rising City Arts.

ADAM SZYMKOWICZ
Adam's play Pretty Theft was produced by Flux Theater Ensemble in 2009. His plays have been produced throughout the U.S., and in Canada, England, The Netherlands, Germany and Lithuania. His work has been presented or developed at such places as MCC Theater, Ars Nova, South Coast Rep, Playwrights Horizons, LAByrinth Theater Company, Primary Stages, The New Group, Southern Rep, Rising Phoenix, The Lark, Kitchen Dog, Theatre of Note, Naked Stage, Azuka Theater and Studio Dante among others. Plays include Deflowering Waldo, Open Minds, Anne, The Art Machine, Pretty Theft, Food For Fish, Hearts Like Fists, My Base and Scurvy Heart, Herbie, Incendiary, Old Fashioned Cold Fusion, Bee Eater, Temporary Everything, Susan Gets Some Play, Clown Bar, Fat Cat Killers, The Why Overhead, Elsewhere, Where You Can’t Follow, The Artist and Nerve. His plays are published by Dramatists Play Service and Samuel French. Adam received a Playwright’s Diploma from The Juilliard School's Lila Acheson Wallace American Playwrights Program and an MFA from Columbia University where he was the Dean’s Fellow. Szymkowicz is a two-time Lecomte du Nouy Prize winner, a member of the Dramatists Guild, Writer’s Guild of America, Primary Stages’ Dorothy Strelsin New American Writer’s Group, the MCC Playwright’s Coalition and was a founding member of the Ars Nova Play Group. He served as Playwright in Residence at the William Inge Center, received a grant from the CT Commission on Culture & Tourism, and was commissioned by South Coast Rep. He was the premiere Resident Playwright at The Chance Theater in Anaheim, CA and the first playwright to participate in Bloomington Playwrights Projects’ Square One Series. For more, go to adamszymkowicz.com


We look forward to seeing you at Flux Family Feud!
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Looking for MENDERS help

[ Tuesday, November 1, 2011 | 1 comments ]
We are on the hunt for a few more members of the Menders creative team. Please read the job descriptions below, and either forward this on to people who might be right, or apply yourself!

Assistant Director/Understudy
Flux Theatre Ensemble is seeking a young female Assistant Director/Understudy for the upcoming production of Erin Browne’s Menders, running from January 19 – February 11, 2012 at “The Gym at Judson” on Washington Square Park South. This person will work with director Heather Cohn and the creative team throughout the rehearsal process, and will serve as the understudy for the 3 female roles in the show (age range, 20-28). Detailed character descriptions available upon request. Rehearsals will begin mid-December and take place mostly on week nights and weekends. Small stipend available. If you're interested, please send your resume and schedule of availability to heather@fluxtheatre.org. Thank you!

Assistant Costume Designer
Flux Theatre Ensemble is seeking an Assistant Costumer for the upcoming production of Erin Browne’s Menders, running from January 19 – February 11, 2012 at “The Gym at Judson” on Washington Square Park South. This person will work with costume designer Will Lowry and the creative team in pre-production and throughout both the rehearsal process and tech of the production. Duties may include shopping/swatching, attending fittings, and performing minor alterations. Basic sewing skills and access to a sewing machine are preferable. Design meetings begin in early November, with rehearsals starting mid-December. Small stipend available. If you're interested, please send your resume and schedule of availability to will@fluxtheatre.org Thank you!

To learn more about Menders, click here.
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2nd Annual Flux Family Feud

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The Flux Family feud is back!
Monday, November 21 · 7:00pm - 11:00pm
LOCATION CHANGE: Fontanas - 105 Eldridge Street (between Grand and Broome)
Doors open at 7:00pm, Feud starts at 8:00pm


Join us on Monday, Nov. 21 for a benefit to support our upcoming production of Menders by Erin Browne and our (soon to be announced!) 5th Season. Your host Matt Archambault returns (pictured left, portrait by Kristy Caldwell.)

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.

Tickets are $15 in advance, $20 at the door, so get your tickets now.

Just like the TV show the most important part of the game is the survey, so please take two minutes to answer the questions - your answers will be used at the Feud!




Can't make it but still want to support Flux?Enter our raffle to win all sorts of awesome prizes, including a paid walk-on role on Law and Order: SVU.

The Family Feud Benefit was one of our favorite nights of last year, so we very much hope you will join us on the 21st as we Feud again.

To see pictures of the good time from last year, click here.

To see the answers to last year's Feud questions, click here.
(THE TYRONES celebrate. Pictured: Debargo Senyal, Michael Roderick, Jason Paradine, Erica Livingston, Catherine Porter. Photo by Isaiah Tanenbaum)

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Menders, by Erin Browne

| 1 comments ]
A new play by Erin Browne
Directed by Heather Cohn
January 19 – February 11, 2012
At “The Gym at Judson” on Washington Square Park South

Creative Team includes:
Set Design by Cory Rodriguez; Costume Design by Will Lowry; Lighting Design by Kia Rogers; Sound Design by Asa Wember; Stage Management by Jodi Witherell

Synopsis:
Corey and Aimes are new recruits mending the wall that guards their city from an unnamed threat. But as their teacher Drew tells them subversive tales of the world outside, they begin to wonder at the real purpose of the wall, until an unexpected act of passion tears the menders apart. Inspired by Robert Frost's poem, "Mending Wall", Menders is a hauntingly lyrical look at what we're walling out.

Stay tuned for more updates about the cast and creative team!
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2011 Flux Raffle!

[ Wednesday, October 26, 2011 | 1 comments ]
We hope that you are able to attend our second Flux Family Feud Benefit Party on Monday, November 21. If you can't make it, that will make us sad, but you can still support Flux by participating in our annual raffle! This year's raffle is better than ever. As usual, the money raised from the raffle will help finance future productions so that Flux can continue to produce compelling and transformative theatre.

The drawing will take place at the Family Feud but you DO NOT have to be there to win!

Raffle ticket prices are as follows:

$3 gets you 1 ticket
$5 gets you 2 tickets
$10 gets you 5 ticket
$20 gets you 13 tickets (Wow! That really increases your chances of winning!)
and the ultimate deal: $40 gets you 30 tickets (insane!)

(want to buy more than 30 tickets? Just email kelly@fluxtheatre.org for more information.)

How it works: You can increase your chances of winning by CHOOSING which prizes you want to win. For example, if you buy 30 tickets, you can put 10 tickets into the Law & Order SVU Walk-on role, 10 tickets into the free headshots and 10 tickets into the custom-made bracelet. Or, you could put all 30 tickets into one prize.

Step-by-step directions to buying raffle tickets

1. Choose your prizes from the list below below

2. Purchase your tickets HERE

3. Send an email to kelly@fluxtheatre.org telling her how you would like your tickets allocated.

4. Wait for a confirmation email from Kelly and then hope you win! Winners will be announced on November 21.


Here Are The Prizes!



Two Tickets to Chicago on Broadway with a BACKSTAGE TOUR.

Winner gets two seats to the Tony award-winning Broadway musical, Chicago. To make this prize even better, it includes a backstage tour before the show!



Be a Star for the Day. Work as a background player and get paid!

Winner gets to be a walk-on role on Law & Order SVU!
(must be 18 years of age or older to win this prize)



An Anything Goes poster signed by Sutton Foster and members of the Tony Award winning cast!





Have your name written into an August Schulenburg play
If you win this prize, Gus will include your name in one of his next plays! Gus is the author of The Lesser Seductions of History, Jacob's House, Other Bodies, Riding the Bull and Rue. Have your name immortalized forever. Who knows, it may end up on the Flux stage!



A personal tour of Google NYC
Flux member Kelly O'Donnell takes you and a friend on a tour of the NYC Googleplex. Get a closeup tour of their inner world: the scooters, game rooms, their collection of old computers, amazing views of Manhattan and so much more. The tour finishes with a lunch in one of their famous cafeterias. Yum!



A 90-minute consultation with fundraising pro, Heather Cohn!
Trying to write a grant for a theatre company? Working on building your individual donor base? Need help? Heather Cohn has nearly 10 years of experience working as a professional development (fundraising) officer and is offering to share some of her knowledge. Win a 90-minute session with Heather to discuss and tackle your most pressing fundraising questions.



Two tickets to The Daily Show
One of the smartest and funniest shows on television. Past guests have included President Obama, Jerry Seinfeld and Jodie Foster! Date is TBD but will be sometime in early 2012.


Dinner with the Flux member of your choice
So many choices: Gus, Heather, Kelly, Matt, Isaiah or Will. Be taken out to dinner with one of us! Who could ask for a better date?


A Themed Illustrated Pet Portrait
Kristy Caldwell will create an original portrait of your pet in the theme of your choice! She is open to depicting your pet however you'd like: equestrian, pirate or even an astronaut. The choices are endless! She will create the drawing from a photograph of your pet. See Kristy's art here. (featured in image: Friend of Flux, Bachi)

An Archival Print of Flux's Season 4 Posters
Win an archival print of all three Season 4 images: Dog Act, Ajax in Iraq and Menders. Includes all three images together in a panoramic view on acid-free paper.



The Mystery Box Just what is inside this box? Shh... it is a secret but it is something really awesome and powerful. Buy some raffle tickets and you may find out.



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Headshot Session with Flux Member Isaiah Tanenbaum
Includes: A two-hour on-location photoshoot featuring as many looks and poses as you like. The best shots will be edited (so they are ready to print), burned to a disk for you to keep, and hosted online for easy access. Check out more of Isaiah's work Here





Press Photography with Flux member Isaiah Tanenbaum ($100+ value). Let Isaiah help you promote your next show! Choose one of the following options: rehearsal room photos, special photo-shoot, tech/dress rehearsal, or performance (non-showcase code only). The best images will be edited, burned to a disk and hosted online for your convenience. Isaiah's photographs have been featured in The New York Times, Backstage, The Village Voice, and countless other blogs and theatre sites. At left is from Flux's production of Dog Act


Ryan Andes Handmade Pendant (includes chain)
Ryan has been making custom jewelry for years and we are excited to be offering such a quality necklace again this year. Check out Ryan's online store here






Ryan Andes Handmade Leather Bracelet. Your very own Flux Leather Bracelet. Perhaps you have seen Flux member Gus Schulenburg and Friend of Flux Carissa Cordes, sporting their Flux bracelets? We know you are jealous! (Ryan will size the bracelet to the winner)



$50 Gift Certificate to the Ninth Ward.
An East Village bar that doesn't get hipper than this. Why? Because Creative Partner, Will Lowry helped build the interior!




Purchase raffle tickets HERE! Raffle drawing will take place on November 21. You DO NOT have to be there to win!

New raffle prizes may be added to the raffle. You can change your allocation anytime before Nov 21 by emailing kelly@fluxtheatre.org

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