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.

Our First Read of BURNED

Tonight, composer Joshua H. Cohen and I had our first table read of our new musical Burned.

We debuted some songs from Burned earlier this year as a part of Golden Fleece's Square One Series. Hana Slevin and Owen Beans sang the parts of Pamela and Gerald, and they helped us out again tonight, reading those same roles.

Burned is inspired by A.A. Milne's play The Lucky One about two brothers and their shifting fortunes. We’ve reset the piece during the 2008 financial crisis. We also gender swapped the character of the family lawyer, which worked quite well when read this evening by Erin Leigh Peck.

Other actors who read for us included Doug Rossi, Mat Hostetler, Gordon Stanley, Nick Luckenbaugh, Ali Gordon, and Joan Barber. Thanks to all involved!

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!

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!

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!

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!

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!

Meet the Crew

Tomorrow, June 1, my adaptation of Herman Melville's Moby-Dick will be done as a reader's theatre presentation as a part of the Abingdon Theatre Company's Sunday Series.

The show is at 7:00 pm at the Abingdon, 312 W. 36th Street between 8th and 9th Avenues in Manhattan.

You can get tickets here:

Sunday Series

Tickets are $20, but blog readers can use the discount code "BigFish" for $5 off.

The production is directed by Dev Bondarin and stage managed by Jodi M. Witherell. I thought you might want to meet the folks playing the crew of the Pequod. Here they are:

Alex Herrald Theater: Please Continue, Carry the Zero (Ensemble Studio Theatre). Just Right Just Now (Lesser America). Life And Times (Soho Rep/Public Theater). These Seven Sicknesses, The Wundelsteipen, Future Anxiety, Just Cause, and #serials@theflea (Flea Theater). Victor Frange Presents GAS! (Incubator Arts). The Consequences (Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theatre). Film: The Conservatory (College Emmy Award winner). Webseries: Wiggles (Channel 101/dir. Kris Knight). www.alexherrald.com

Russell Jordan worked with director Dev Bondarin earlier this year in the Manhattan Theatre Works (MTWorks) staged reading of Fengar Gael's The Draper's Eye. Recent Stage: Dig Infinity! (Planet Connections Theatre Festivity), The Messiah Complex (Downtown Urban Theater Festival). Recent Television: Blue Bloods and Black Box. Russell is an MTWorks company actor, co-owner of The Harlem Camerata reading salon, and an adjunct professor at York College/CUNY where he teaches Performance for Television. Member: AEA & SAG-AFTRA. www.russelljordan.com

Doug Rossi has played such classical roles as Tartuffe, Macbeth, Orlando, Friar Lawrence, Caliban, Orsino, Brutus, Ford, Don Pedro, and Hamlet. In NYC, he's appeared in over 70 productions including several at FringeNYC, Planet Connections (Best Featured Actor winner) and MITF (Best Supporting Actor nominee). MFA from Alabama Shakespeare Festival.

Conrad Schott Regional: Our Town (dir. Les Waters, Actors Theatre of Louisville), Remix 38 (ATL Humana Festival), All's Well That Ends Well and The Atheist's Tragedy (in repertory at Academy for Classical Acting). New York: The Collective (Zoo Theater), King Lear (American Bard Theatre Company). Schott was an Actors Theatre of Louisville Acting Apprentice and trained at The National Theatre Institute and BADA Midsummer in Oxford. BA: Vassar College, MFA: Shakespeare Theatre Company's Academy for Classical Acting.

Gordon Stanley Seven original Broadway casts, including Joseph…Dreamcoat, Beauty and the Beast, and Ragtime; also Cabaret (1st Roundabout revival). Off-Broadway: Lies My Father Told Me, Iron Curtain, Flamingo Court, White Woman Street, Take Me Along, many others. Movies /TV: Beauty and the Beast, Pocohontas,  Law and Order: CI.  Best credit/longest run: thirty-four years with Renee.

William Oliver Watkins has guest-starred on Nurse Jackie, Law & Order: SVU and Rescue Me. Stage: Jackie & Me and Ruined (Denver Center), Lombardi (Cleveland Playhouse), The Underside of Jackfruit & Papaya and McRib (Abingdon), BIOLIFE (Nuyorican Poetry Club), Snakeskin Suit and Nodding Off (Ensemble Studio Theatre), A Raisin in the Sun (Studio Arena), To Kill A Mockingbird (Great Plains Theater) and Blues for an Alabama Sky (St. Louis Black Rep). William trained at Webster Conservatory.



And what a crew they are! Come out to the Abingdon at 7:00 on Sunday to set sail on a grand adventure!

We have a cast!

I am happy to officially announce the cast of Fireboat Productions' reader's theater presentation of my adaptation of Moby-Dick.

The cast will include:

Alex Herrald*
Russell Jordan*
Doug Rossi
Conrad Schott
Gordon Stanley*
William Oliver Watkins*

*denotes member of AEA

You can get tickets here:

TICKETS

Tickets are $20, but blog readers can get a $5 discount by using the code: BigFish.

If you're a member of the Theater Development Fund, tickets through TDF are also available for $9.

The performance, which is being directed by the incomparable Dev Bondarin, will be at the Abingdon Theatre Company as part of their Sunday Series at 7:00 on June 1st. Hope to see many of you there!