Davenport Hiring a Program Director

Broadway producer Ken Davenport recently bought the theater on 45th Street that was once home to Primary Stages. Now known as the Davenport Theatre, this building is near and dear to my heart. It's where Epiphany Theater Company did a staged reading of The Metric System, where The True Author... Revealed got its premiere, and where Maggie the Pirate was workshopped in the middle of Hurricane Irene!

Now Ken is hiring a program director for that theater. Loyal blog readers, please apply! This is a chance to be a part of a theater with a long and storied history, and hopefully even a longer and better future.

Here's the ad for the position:

Theater Programming Director

The Davenport Theatre seeks a self-motivated Programming Director to join the team. The Programming Director will be responsible for creating and discovering content and programming for the theater’s 149 seat mainstage and 60 seat blackbox. Applicants should have a strong knowledge of the Off-Broadway theatrical scene. Ideal candidates have 1-2 years experience working in the NY theater community. Producing experience a plus. Salary commensurate with experience.

Please send resume, cover letter and 2-3 references to dylan@davenporttheatrical.com. Subject line should include position title. No phone calls please.

Around the World in 80 Days

Last night, I saw the wonderful steampunk version of Around the World in 80 Days currently running off-Broadway at The New Theater at 45th Street. First of all... wow.

This is the quick-change adaptation penned by Mark Brown, in which five actors portray approximately three zillion characters. I saw it when Irish Rep did the play five or six years ago. I enjoyed that production, but was surprised that it was being revived so soon afterward. I wasn't sure I wanted to see a play (even a good one) that I had just seen a few years ago. On the other hand... steampunk.

The costumes are wonderful, and the set magnificent. Plus, the production deftly uses projections, showing clocks, maps, and various stylized images to help tell the story. Ten years ago, you had to go to Broadway to see projections of this level of quality, or at least a major off-Broadway house. It's wonderful that the technology has come down to more intimate venues as well.

And what is that venue? Well, The New Theater at 45th Street is the latest name for the building across from my old apartment on 45th Street near 9th Avenue. It's where I saw my first play reading in New York (a piece by N. Richard Nash). It's also where there was a staged reading of my play The Metric System and workshop productions of Maggie the Pirate, a musical I wrote with Joshua H. Cohen, and The True Author... Revealed, a one-woman show I wrote starring Katherine Harte-DeCoux.

Of course, when I worked in that building, it was a dump. Producer Cedric Yau should get a medal from the block association for transforming it into one of the classier places you can go now to see intimate theater. Not only is the lobby cleaned up and inviting, but the theater itself is decorated with a steampunk mural that blends into the set, bringing the audience right into the action. Yau also shelled out money to provide much-needed new seats and carpeting (which actually match the set and mural!) for the venerable old venue.

In order for the piece to work, however, you have to have good actors, and this production delivers. Not only is the cast hysterical, but they keep up the energy throughout the show, conveying a sense of urgency as Fogg and his retinue strive to make each leg of the journey on time and circle the world in the titular 80 days. I found myself cheering for them with increasing intensity throughout the second act, and I was on the edge of my seat, in spite of knowing all of the plot twists beforehand.

Below is a publicity photo I grabbed from the show's website. If you get a chance, check it out!

Bio

James Armstrong grew up in Pensacola, Florida, where he became one of the founding members of the Northwest Florida Young Playwrights Society. The Society produced several of his early plays, including "Muddin' in Chumuckla," now published by Eldridge Plays and Musicals, and "To a Steed," which was published in the literary journal Arts & Letters.

James has studied playwriting and theater at Harvard University, Drew University, and Oxford University (Keble College). He also holds an M.F.A. in Dramatic Writing from the Carnegie Mellon University School of Drama. In the fall, he will be beginning a Ph.D. program in theater at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York.

His plays have received productions and staged readings across the country, both by academic institutions and by professional (Actors Equity) theaters such as the Abingdon Theatre Company, Bristol Riverside Theatre, CAP21, the Epiphany Theater Company, New Jersey Repertory Company, Playwrights Theatre of New Jersey, Rattlestick Playwrights Theatre, and Urban Stages. His teleplay "Cacophony Cookies" aired on local television in Pittsburgh.

The author has received numerous awards for his work. His one-act play "Birdgirl on Walkabout" was voted by the audiences as "Best Play" at Boston Playwrights' Platform's 28th Annual Summer Festival of New Plays. It is now published by Norman Maine Publishing.

New York has seen several of his other plays, including "The New Mrs. Jones" (now published by Brooklyn Publishers) at the Theatre-Studio Inc., "The Mating Habits of New Jersey Wildlife" at Dance Space Center, "The Sign in the Scarlet Prison" at Theater for the New City, "Searching for St. Anthony" at the Samuel French Off-Off-Broadway Festival, "When Ladies Go A-Thieving" at the American Globe Theatre, "Better a Beggar" at the Bouwerie Lane Theatre and "The Mysteries of the Castle of the Monk of Falconara" at the Spotlight On Halloween Festival. "The Mysteries of the Castle" is anthologized in The Best American Short Plays: 2005-2006, published by Applause Theatre & Cinema Books.

In 2006, his play Foggy Bottom, which The New York Times called "one of the most international farces around," premiered at the Abingdon Theatre where it played to packed houses, becoming the most successful production in the history of the Abingdon's black box space up to that time.

A number of his plays have been produced on Staten Island, as well, including "Dickens Condensed," now published by Playscripts, Inc., and "The Pirate Princess," now published by Eldridge. In addition, monologues from his plays The Metric System and "Wall Street Hymn" are included in collections published by Smith and Kraus.

The Epiphany Theater Company produced his adaptation of A Christmas Carol in Saratoga Springs, New York. James has also adapted The Romance of Tristan as the play Net of Dreams as well as the Horace Walpole novel The Castle of Otranto.

In 2009, Playwrights' Forum in Memphis, Tennessee premiered his play The Metric System. That summer, his monologue play "The True Author... Revealed" was performed at The Tank in New York City. The Metric System is now published by Original Works Publishing and "The True Author... Revealed" is included in The Best American Short Plays: 2008-2009.

Recently, his short play "The Rainbow" premiered as a part of the 18th Annual NYC 15-Minute Play Festival at the American Globe Theatre. The play is also a finalist for the Actors Theatre of Louisville's 2012 Heideman Award.

James is a member of the Dramatists Guild of America, Inc. He currently resides in Manhattan.