THE RAINBOW Film to Premiere

My short play The Rainbow which is published by Applause has now been made into a short film premiering next week at a festival in Punta del Este, Uruguay.

The Rainbow was selected by the Cine del Mar 17 festival, which runs from July 10th through 14th. It will be screened as part of the Official Short Film Competition on Thursday, July 11th at 7:15 pm.

I wrote the screenplay, and the film was directed by Dennis Cahlo. The film stars Sandra Maren Schneider, Taso Mikroulis, and Ed Trucco. It has an original score by Martin Bäcker and costumes by Madison Hopkins.

Special thanks to everyone who worked on the film, including Isabel Sandoval (editor), Debby Caplunik (assistant director), Daniel Hirshon (cinematography), Rita Mansinho (color correction), Mauricio Zapata (sound mix) and Silvia Cannarozzi (finishing touches).

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.

I Hate You Tomorrow!

Tomorrow, January 15th, is the staged reading of my new play I Hate You: A Love Story at 7:00 at IATI Theater, 64 E. 4th Street. Hope you can come!

The play follows the tumultuous relationship of two people who quickly discover they either are soul mates, or want to kill each other. Or quite possibly both. The opening scene of the piece was originally produced under the title The Rainbow and was first directed by Dev Bondarin.

Dev is directing this reading as well, and I am thrilled to be working with her once again. She is also the Artistic Director of Astoria Performing Arts Center where her credits include The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Astoria Stories, and Merrily We Roll Along.

The cast includes Doug Rossi and Sandra Maren Schneider. We're also lucky to have Vanna Richardson stage managing.

This reading is free and open to the public, so if you're available at 7:00 on Sunday, please join us!

And next up is...

Thanks to all who came out to see The January Plays at Urban Stages! It was loverly to work with director Ilanna Satzman and actors Heather Massie, Maria de Vries, and Doug Rossi.

It was also an honor to share the stage with other great theatre artists, including Bara Swain, Daniel Damiano, Barbara Blumenthal-Ehrlich, Kim Sharp, Dev Bondarin, and Russell Jordan. Here's a picture of the whole gang!

Now that The January Plays are over, I'm moving on to my next project. My play I Hate You: A Love Story will have a staged reading at 7:00 pm on Sunday, January 15th at IATI Theater, 64 E. 4th Street. Dev Bondarin is directing, and the cast includes Doug Rossi and Sandra Maren Schneider.

The reading is free and open to the public, so please come!

I Hate You: A Love Story

Today's announcement has been in the works for a long time, but I am pleased to say that my play I Hate You: A Love Story will have its first staged reading at 7:00 on Sunday, January 15th.

The reading will be free and open to the public. It will be held at IATI Theater 64 E. 4th Street. Dev Bondarin will be directing, and the cast will include Doug Rossi and Sandra Maren Schneider.

Though the reading is not affiliated with IATI, I am happy to be using their space. I was previously a part of the theater's play development group Cimientos, and they produced the first reading of my adaptation of Moby-Dick.

Dev, as it so happens, directed that reading, which featured Doug. Sandra and I have worked together before as well, including on THE STATE OF COLORADO v. TENNESSEE WILLIAMS. That play went on to be published in Canyon Voices.

I Hate You: A Love Story follows the tumultuous relationship of two people who meet in New York and quickly discover that they either are soul mates, or want to kill each other. Or quite possibly both. The opening scene of the play was originally produced under the title The Rainbow and is published in The Best American Short Plays 2012-2013.

Please come if you can!

Last Chance to See "Grass" Menagerie

This Saturday will be your last chance to see THE STATE OF COLORADO v. TENNESSEE WILLIAMS at the Bad Theater Fest.

What happens when a cast of actors in Colorado decides to perform Tennessee Williams' The Glass Menagerie while all stoned on pot? Find out at 5:00 this Saturday at the Treehouse Theater, 154 W. 29th Street in Manhattan.

Director Ken Kaissar has assembled a great cast, including Daniil Krimer, Zach McCoy, Doug Rossi, Sandra Maren Schneider, and Alex Sunderhaus. They gave a great performance last week, and I'm looking forward to seeing the show again on Saturday.

Come on out to see not only this short play, but other examples of "Bad" theater, including The History of DNA Exchange, which chronicles the two-billion-year history of sexual reproduction, Nano jardin, which shows life through the eyes of two garden gnomes, an adaptation of Lewis Carroll's The Hunting of the Snark, and a piece called Awkward Fornication Leading to Immaculate Conception.

So if you're looking for a high-class evening of tasteful theater, go someplace else. But if you want to have a good laugh and a good time, head on over to the Treehouse Theater at five this Saturday. For more information and tickets, go here:

Bad Theater Fest

A Menagerie of Actors

This Saturday, my short play THE STATE OF COLORADO v. TENNESSEE WILLIAMS opens at the Treehouse Theater as part of the Bad Theater Fest. Fortunately, we have a brilliant cast of good actors who can make bad acting absolutely hysterical. I'd like to introduce you to them now.

Daniil Krimer is playing the part of Jim. Daniil a recent graduate of the BFA program at Montclair State University. He is happy to have been given the opportunity to work on this wacky play and sends a shout out to his family for always supporting him... and an apology to Mr. Williams!

As Jim, Daniil plays a very serious actor taking on an important role in Tennessee Williams' The Glass Menagerie. He plays the role with an almost painful earnestness that contrasts with the rest of the cast. Why? Well, our play takes place in a certain state... where a certain substance has recently become legal....

Zach McCoy plays the role of the Stage Manager in the play. Zach was last seen this summer as David in the off-Broadway revival of Love and Human Remains at The Peter J. Sharp Theatre at Playwrights Horizons.  Other favorite New York credits include Jitter (Arclight Theatre) and The Birthday Boys (Access Theatre).  In Pennsylvania, Zach has performed many times at Millbrook Playhouse in roles such as Bernard in Boeing-Boeing, David in The Foreigner, and Stanley in Run for Your Wife.  Zach has been featured on the AMC original series Film Fakers, and his short film Kidnapping Carl recently premiered at the Manhattan Film Festival.

Doug Rossi, who plays Tom in the play, once won an award for playing Tom in a real production of The Glass Menagerie. His major classical roles include Macbeth, Tartuffe, Orlando, Friar Lawrence, Caliban, Orsino, Launce, Brutus, Ford, and Hamlet. He has appeared in more than 75 NYC productions including FringeNYC, Planet Connections (Winner: Best Featured Actor) and MITF (Nominated: Best Supporting Actor). He also has more than 50 on-camera credits including the title role in the indie feature Recruiter. Currently, he is re-teaming with Empire Tales director David Toth to co-write and star in a thriller entitled Blind Spot.

Sandra Maren Schneider is playing Amanda. Other recent credits include a reading of I Hate You: A Love Story directed by Dev Bondarin (Abingdon Theatre), Blue Moon written and directed by Bryan Quick (Shapiro Theater), Faust - A Tragedy (Staged Reading at the Signature Theatre), Andromache (Winner of NYC Ancient Drama Festival), Tango Fever (Teatro LaTea),  Helen Of Troy (La MaMa), Les Blancs directed by Pat Golden (Staged Reading at the New School), Spoon River Anthology directed by Jimmy Maize (Columbia Stages), Happy End directed by Jérôme Savary & Ulrich Waller (St. Pauli Theater, Germany), and Upon A Time (Workshop of a new musical written by Hayley Annette Green and music by Thomas Auger).

Alex Sunderhaus, who plays Laura, is a Brooklyn-based actress originally from Cincinnati, Ohio. Her BFA  is from Wright State University. Recent stage credits for Alex include: Seminar (Kitchen Theatre Co.), The Lucky Ladies and The Red Cat (The Lark, NYC), and Boeing Boeing (Millbrook Playhouse). Alex has also been a part of several NYC short films and is an improviser at Upright Citizens Brigade.

So there you have it, the amazing cast of THE STATE OF COLORADO v. TENNESSEE WILLIAMS. Ken Kaissar is directing and doing a wonderful job. If you want to see the show, it is playing Saturday, October 25th at 5:00 and the following Saturday, November 1st, also at 5:00.

Both shows are at the Treehouse Theater. For more information, go here:

Bad Theater Fest

One Week From Today!

One week from today, my 10-minute play THE STATE OF COLORADO v. TENNESSEE WILLIAMS will open as part of the Bad Theater Fest at the Treehouse Theater!

And yes, this is a cringe-inducing satire that hopes to have the distinguished Mr. Williams rolling over in his grave. Fortunately, we have a wonderful cast of good actors who know precisely how brilliant bad acting can be.

Daniil Krimer, Zach McCoy, Doug Rossi, Sandra Maren Schneider, and Alex Sunderhaus star as a troupe of actors desperately trying to put on a production of The Glass Menagerie at a small theater in Colorado in spite of local laws restricting performances. Ken Kaissar directs.

Our opening performance will be at 5:00 on Saturday, October 25th, at the Treehouse Theater, 154 W. 29th Street in Manhattan. There will be a second performance the following week, at 5:00 on Saturday, November 1st.

Go here for tickets:

Bad Theater Fest

Hope to see you there, for a really good bad time!