The Holidays Begin

I'm pleased to announce that my short play Burns Night has passed into the semifinalist round of the Holiday Playwright Contest held by Kinsman Quarterly.

The play premiered in 2019 at the Secret Theatre in Queens, which is now one of many companies doing productions of A Christmas Carol throughout the five boroughs of New York and beyond.

While I don't know that I'll be able to get out to see that production before it closes on December 22nd, I plan on going to see another production closer to home. On December 3rd and 4th, Sean Coffey will be performing his one-person adaptation of Charles Dickens's story at the historic Van Cortlandt House Museum in the Bronx.

John Kevin Jones will be performing his own one-person version of the tale in Manhattan at the Merchant’s House Museum in Manhattan through December 29th. If you're in the mood for a larger production, head over to Staten Island, where Sundog Theatre is producing a large-cast musical version of the tale on December 7th, adapted by Cash Tilton, with original songs by Susan Mondzak.

Most exciting to me, though, is a puppet version of A Christmas Carol performed by Drama of Works on December 19th at Rubulad in Brooklyn. Drama of Works founder Gretchen Van Lente is sponsoring a “XMAS CAROL” puppet slam, breaking up Dickens’s story into six parts, each performed by a different puppetry troupe. Gretchen designed the puppets for my own adaptation of the story in 2007, so I'm expecting great things.

Across the river, the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey is producing a stage version of A Christmas Carol in Madison, adapted by Neil Bartlett, which plays until December 29th. Yes, that's a lot of Carols! It so happens, I am regarded as enough of an expert on these things that I will be co-hosting the last episode of the Rosenbach Library's "Monsters and Ghosts" online program on December 16th, discussing the legacy of a Dickensian Christmas.

So however you celebrate this month, I wish you a very merry holiday season!

Secret Semi-finals

My play My Fellow Americans made it into the semi-finals of the Secret Theatre One Act Festival, which means you have another chance to see it this Saturday.

My Fellow Americans stars Rebecca Ana Peña as the President of the United States on the night of an important public address. After the speech, pressing issues intervene.

Rachael Langton directed the piece and did a wonderful job. Our show will be going up with the "Semi-finals A" program at 5:30pm on August 13th. (Yes, something on the eventbrite page says the performance doesn't start until later, but be warned that curtain is indeed at 5:30pm!)

In addition to my play, you'll also get to see Dan Perry's very funny play The Gatekeepers with Susan Jane McDonald and Julie Berndt. Other plays that made it to the semi-finals include The Madness of Memory by Vivian Lermond, Emeline Pettifogs by Ivan Faute, A Bell Tolls by Monte D. Monteleagre, My Piano Doesn't Like Me by Larry Rinkel, and Starry Starry Night by Brian Leahy Doyle.

I had a previous play, Burns Night, done at the Secret Theatre's festival in 2019 when they were based in Long Island City. The company is still in Queens, but it's now based in Woodside, where they have an amazing and cozy space with an eclectically decorated lobby. It is smaller, though, so get your tickets before they sell out!

If we advance to the finals, there will be one more performance on Sunday, August 14th. I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

Secret One Acts Open This Week

This week the Secret Theatre in Queens is opening its festival of one-act plays, and you won't want to miss it!

The important thing is to get tickets to Program D, which includes my own play My Fellow Americans. It will premiere on Wednesday, July 13th, and will be repeated the following three Wednesdays, July 20th, July 27th, and August 3rd.

My Fellow Americans features Rebecca Ana Peña as President of the United States. The play is directed by Rachael Langton, who I got to know through her work with the Metropolitan Playhouse. Both have done an amazing job, and I'm eager for people to see the piece.

If you've never been to the new Secret Theatre since it re-opened in Woodside, it really is a delightful place. The theatre is more homey and less industrial-feeling than their old space in Long Island City, which previously hosted my play Burns Night during their 2019 one-act festival.

Curtain time is 7:30, and you can get your tickets here. Also being performed as a part of Program D are Love Locks Bridge by D Lee Miller, A Twilight of Joy by Paul K. Smith, Soar Spot by Allison Fradkin, Happier Days by Jennifer Ju, The Gatekeepers by Dan Perry, Envenomed by Lisa Siebert, and The Mitochondria by Ruth Zamoyta.

That last play is being directed by Kim T. Sharp, who always does good work, so I'm excited about the line-up we're going to have. See you at the theatre!

My Fellow Americans

Today brought the huge but expected news that Roe v. Wade is now officially history. A lot of people in America--particularly women--are feeling frightened and powerless.

It so happens that a play I wrote, My Fellow Americans, which is slated to be performed as part of the Secret Theatre's One-Act Festival, is becoming unexpectedly quite relevant.

The play envisions a female President of the United States giving her dream speech on television, but just as she finishes the speech, pressing issues intervene. The play stars Rebecca Ana Peña as the President and is being directed by Rachael Langton.

We will be performing the play under an Actors' Equity Association showcase code. Performances are July 13, 20, 27, and August 3. If we are lucky enough to get into the semi-finals, there will be an additional performance on August 13, and if the play makes it to the finals, it will be performed again on August 14.

I last had a play in the Secret Theatre's One-Act Festival in 2019, when they did my comedy Burns Night. Since then, the theatre has closed and re-opened. Their new location is at 38-02 61st Street in Woodside, Queens. Come on out if you're in the mood for some politically relevant theatre!

Don't feel like you have to wait until next month, though, to see a play about a strong woman standing up to power. Tonight I saw Shakespeare Downtown perform Bernard Shaw's play Saint Joan at Castle Clinton in Battery Park.

The play is free, and Billie Anderson gives a strong performance as Joan of Arc. Saint Joan closes on Sunday, so see it while you still can.

Remembering Doug Rossi

New York City has lost one of the best friends to new play development the theatre had. After a difficult battle with cancer, actor Doug Rossi has passed away in his childhood home in Cleveland, Ohio.

I got to know Doug working on new plays at the Abingdon Theatre Company, but he actually trained as a classical actor, getting his MFA in acting working with the Alabama Shakespeare Festival. Over the years, he played the title role in Hamlet, Caliban in The Tempest, Orlando in As You Like It, Friar Lawrence in Romeo and Juliet, Orsino in Twelfth Night, Antonio in Much Ado About Nothing, and a host of other Shakespearean roles.

As an actor, Doug was always game for anything, which is what made him such an important figure in the development of new work. The number of new plays he worked on, in readings, workshops, and world premiere productions, helping authors to hone characters and originating new roles, is too numerous to name. Just a few of the plays Doug helped bring to light include Aliens with Extraordinary Skills by Saviana Stanescu, Carlett's Just Carlett by Kat Mustatea, Nell Dash by Doug DeVita, A Brandy Before Dying by Jim Farmer, and Evensong by Christina Quintana.

I had the pleasure of working with Doug in numerous incarnations of I Hate You! A Love Story, in which he acted in a two-hander opposite Sandra Maren Schneider. He also played numerous characters in the early readings of my adaptation of Moby-Dick. He played Tom in THE STATE OF COLORADO v. TENNESSEE WILLIAMS, my send up of The Glass Menagerie, which was fitting, since he had also played that role back in Ohio, winning a Best Actor Chanticleer Award for his performance. More recently, he appeared in a reading of Burns Night at Urban Stages, hilariously appearing on stage in a kilt.

For years, Doug came to monthly meetings of playwrights, first at the Abingdon, and then later with the 36th Street Writers Block. He volunteered his time doing cold reads of new work, and always gave valuable feedback. He took part in the very first table read that Joshua H. Cohen and I did of our musical Burned, and he was a familiar face to anyone who regularly attended readings of new plays. He also gave generously of his time to writers trying to produce their work at small festivals, including the Midtown International Theatre Festival, the Samuel French One-Act Festival, and the NYC Fringe. In 2011, he was named Best Featured Actor for his role in Duncan Pflaster's Sweeter Dreams at Planet Connections.

Doug also appeared on screen, most memorably with Maggie Gyllenhaal in The Deuce on HBO. It is for his stage work that I remember him, though, and as the loving husband of fellow actor Dianne Diep. It seems almost unbelievable that he isn't with us anymore. New York theatre has lost one of its most giving, hardest working, most insightful, brightest stars.

Facts and Fantasies

I'm sad that I missed yesterday's performance of Burns Night at the Secret Theatre, but I had a good excuse. I've been attending the conference of the British Association for Romantic Studies in Nottingham.

This year's conference theme was "Romantic Facts and Fantasies" and I was invited to present a paper on the French premiere of Percy Shelley's The Cenci, which sought to combat many of the myths about the play, though the production ended up perpetuating other fantasies.

I arrived in the United Kingdom on Tuesday and visited the Museum of London Docklands. Though I wasn't sure how much I would enjoy it, they had on display some toy theatre prints and figures, which of course won me over right away. The following day, I visited the Keats House in Hampstead Heath, and then my sister and I saw Jack Thorne's new play The End of History at the Royal Court.

Thursday, I took the train to Nottingham, but trains throughout England were having difficulties. The official story was that due to high temperatures they had to limit train speeds, which meant that... they had to cancel half the trains. I waited in two wrong lines before I finally got the information I needed. Eventually, I got into Nottingham and was able to take a tram out to the university where the conference was being held. The walk to the conference center, though, was long... and quite hot.

There were some good presentations on Thursday, and I was excited to hear Sonia Hofkosh speak about Lord Byron's screen, which incorporates images of famous actors. I was looking forward to visiting the screen in person on this trip, but I learned that the curators had turned it so that none of the portraits of actors are visible! I spent some furious time e-mailing folks at Newstead Abbey, which has the screen. The end result was... less than satisfying, which means I guess I'm going to have to arrange another trip to Newstead Abbey someday in the future.

On Friday, there were some other good papers, including one by Nora Crook about Mary Shelley's mythological dramas Proserpine and Midas (which also included some lyrics by her husband Percy). There was also a whole panel on Romantic drama. Michael Gamer spoke on a cartoon that the British Library has named "The Monster Melodrama" though it actually contains more noticeable references to pantomime. Sara Medina Calzada talked about a dramatic sketch discussing the Spanish Revolution of 1820. Michael Simpson spoke on Lord Byron and the address he wrote for the grand re-opening of the Theatre Royal at Drury Lane. All three of the talks were informative.

Speaking of Byron, on Saturday I did make it out to his old home, Newstead Abbey. Alas, I couldn't see the side of his decorated screen that I wanted to examine, but they had other interesting objects on display, and I still enjoyed the visit. One thing I wasn't expecting to see was a Staffordshire figure of the actor Mr. Barton in the role of Giaffer in an adaptation of Byron's poem The Bride of Abydos. The figurine might be associated with an 1847 production at Astley's Theatre. Right now, I'm not sure which Mr. Barton this is, but I'm going to try to find out!

Today, I gave my own paper in the morning, and I also attended a splendid talk by Christine Kenyon Jones on illustrations of Byron. She showed an engraving I was not familiar with that George Cruikshank did of the Witch of the Alps from Manfred. Though the engraving was done before the play had been staged, it seemed to be influenced by period staging techniques, so it anticipated a production of a play that had as yet not been performed.

I am staying one more night in Nottingham, and tomorrow I head to Manchester for the International Conference on Romanticism. Wish me luck!

Feel the Burns

Last night, I saw Alice Hale, Maria de Vries, and Zach McCoy in my short play Burns Night in the Long Island City One Act Play Festival.

The festival is held at the Secret Theatre in Queens. Ilanna Saltzman directed the production of Burns Night, and if you missed the show last week, you can see it on Saturday at 8:00. We will also have future performances at 5:00 on Sunday, August 4th, and then at 8:00 on the following Sunday, August 11th.

Unfortunately, I'm not going to be able to see those performances, as I'll be out of town. Later this week, I'll be at the British Association for Romantic Studies' conference at the University of Nottingham. On the closing day of the conference, which is this coming Sunday, I'll be delivering a paper on the French premiere of Percy Shelley's play The Cenci and the impact it had on Symbolism.

The following week, I'll be at the International Conference on Romanticism at the University of Manchester. I'm giving a talk on Edmund Kean's influence on Lord Byron, particularly in relationship to his play Manfred. While I'm in Manchester, I'll also get a chance to see There Is a Light That Never Goes Out, a play about the Luddite rebellion, which is playing at the Royal Exchange Theatre there.

Initially, I had thought I would get back in time to see the final scheduled performance of Burns Night on August 11th, but as soon as I get back to the U.S., I'll be heading out to Chicago, where my one-act play The Love Songs of Brooklynites will be playing at The Theatre of Western Springs. That play runs August 8th through 11th, and I'll be there for the talkbacks after each performance.

If Burns Night is invited back for the semifinals of the LIC One Act Play Festival, I'll be there on August 21st, and the finals for the festival are on August 24th. If I don't see you there, perhaps I'll see you in Illinois!

Continuing Next Week...

Yesterday, my short play Burns Night opened at the Long Island City One-Act Festival at the Secret Theatre in Queens.

Maria de Vries did an excellent job reprising her role as Keira, which she originated in a staged reading at Urban Stages. Alice Hale is delightful as Keira's friend Steph, and Zach McCoy is hilarious as Steph's kilt-clad Scottish boyfriend Malcolm.

Unfortunately, our fearless director Ilanna Saltzman couldn't join us for opening night, but she'll be there next week for a 5:00 performance on Saturday, July 20th. I hope you'll join us!

Burns Night is being performed with several other short plays, including Seth Freeman's Tombstone, Victor Vauban Jr.'s The Second Coming, Jeremy Kehoe's Beardy McBeardersen, Ray Vagge's Service not Rendered, and Brianna Singer's Where's Avis?

Burns Night explores themes of friendship and romance as a celebration of Robert Burns and all things Scottish starts to go overboard at a suburban house in New Jersey. If you miss the performance next week, you can catch it the following Saturday at 8:00 on July 27th, or at 5:00 on Sunday, August 4th, or at 8:00 on the following Sunday, August 11th.

Below is a picture of me and the cast. Hope you can make it!

BURNS NIGHT Opens This Week

My short play Burns Night opens this Friday, July 12th, as part of the Long Island City One-Act Festival at the Secret Theatre.

The first show is at 7:30 pm. We're second on a bill of shorts that includes plays by Seth Freeman, Jeremy Kehoe, Brianna Singer, and others. Tickets are $18 in advance and $20 at the door.

Performances continue the following week at 5:00 on Saturday, July 20th, the next Saturday at 8:00 on July 27th, then at 5:00 on Sunday, August 4th, and finally at 8:00 on the following Sunday, August 11th.

Burns Night is a comedy that tells the story of two friends hiding out in a kitchen while a celebration of Robert Burns and all things Scottish starts to go overboard. Ilanna Saltzman is directing the play, following her directing a reading of the piece at Urban Stages.

Maria de Vries is reprising her role of Keira from the reading. Her other New York theatre credits include the Abingdon Theatre Company, Red Monkey, ATA, and Oxford Shakespeare. Most recently she appeared in Squirrel Screams and Other Dating Sounds by Lindsay Timmington. Her MFA is from UNC-Greensboro.

The role of Steph is being played by Alice Hale, who I originally met through Urban Stages as well. Alice's New York theatre credits include Golden Vanilla at New York Summerfest and A Hand Across the Bridge at the Planet Connections Theatre Festivity. She's appeared on television in ID's Hometown Homicide and in the Web series Northbound, The Uncanny Upshurs, and Public History. Her BFA is from NYU Tisch, and she has studied at Stella Adler Studio of Acting and Stonestreet Screen Acting Conservatory.

It's my first time working with Alice, and only my second time working with Maria and Ilanna, But they're all great. Rounding out the cast as Steph's boyfriend Malcom is Zach McCoy, with whom I've worked on multiple occasions. He appeared in my short play The State of Colorado v. Tennessee Williams, as well as readings of The Love Songs of Brooklynites. (Keep a look out for an announcement about that play soon.)

Zach's favorite stage credits include David in Love and Human Remains (Peter Jay Sharp Theatre at Playwrights Horizons - NYC), Bernard in Boeing, Boeing (Millbrook Playhouse - Pennsylvania), and Colin in The Birthday Boys (co-producer; Access Theatre - NYC). He is hysterical in Burns Night, so you don't want to miss him!

The Secret Theatre is located at 44-02 23rd Street in Long Island City in Queens. It is set back a bit from the street, so don't miss it when you walk by... and make it live up to its name! This is going to be a good show, so I hope to see you there.

And it begins...

Today, we had our first rehearsal for my short play Burns Night, which will be performed next month at the Long Island City One-Act Festival at the Secret Theatre in Queens.

Burns Night originally had a staged reading as part of the January Plays at Urban Stages. Ilanna Saltzman, who directed the reading, is directing the full production at the Secret Theatre as well. Maria de Vries will be reprising her role as Keira, while Alice Hale will be playing Steph and Zach McCoy will be playing Malcolm.

It's great to work with Ilanna and Maria again, and I'm psyched about getting to work with Zach and Alice as well. Last year, Zach was in a reading of The Love Songs of Brooklynites, and while I've never worked with Alice before, I'm a big fan of her web series Northbound.

Burns Night tells the story of two young women who have been friends for forever. They hide out in a kitchen while a celebration of Robert Burns and all things Scottish starts to go overboard. But as their lives and interests change and as romantic entanglements become more intense, can their friendship still stay what it used to be?

The play will be performed at 7:30 on Friday, July 12th, then the following week at 5:00 on Saturday, July 20th, then the next Saturday at 8:00 on July 27th, at 5:00 on Sunday, August 4th, and then at 8:00 on the following Sunday, August 11th. If we're invited back for the semifinals, they'll be on August 21st, and the finals are on August 24th.

I hope you can make it, and if you come, we promise not to feed you haggis!

January Plays

As a reminder, my short play Burns Night will have a staged reading tomorrow, January 8th, at Urban Stages.

Burn Night is being performed with five other short pieces as part of The January Plays. Ilanna Saltzman is directing the reading, which stars Maria de Vries, Heather Massie, and Doug Rossi.

The readings will be at 2:00 and 4:00 at Urban Stages, 259 W. 30th Street. Burns Night will be accompanied by The Most Uncomfortable Meal Ever by Samuel Plotkin, The January Gem by P.C. Allan, The Women's "Follow Your Dream" Club by Jack Feldstein, The Lepors by Daniel Damiano, and New Year's Rezzies by Barbara Blumenthal-Ehrlich.

We had a great rehearsal today, so it should be a good show. Hope you can make it!

Burns Night

My short play Burns Night will be receiving a staged reading next month at Urban Stages!

Ilanna Saltzman will be directing the reading, which will feature Doug Rossi, Heather Massie, and Maria de Vries. The reading is free, and you can get more information at the Urban Stages website.

Urban Stages will be presenting the play at 2:00 and at 4:00 on Sunday, January 8th, not on the actual Burns Night. (That would be January 25th.) The play will accompany five other short works that all have to do with the month of January.

Other playwrights represented will be P.C. Allan, Barbara Blumenthal-Ehrlich, Daniel Damiano, Jack Feldstein, and Samuel Plotkin. I hope to see you there!