The Season is Upon Us- Fall Season HIGHLIGHTS from Artistic Director Justine Lambert

The Season is Upon Us!

You might think that since our first full production is opening in October we’re having a calm start to the season, but Fall is already barreling full steam ahead.  We’ve been so busy, in fact, with getting our programs up and running that I have barely had time to look up from the computer and appreciate the artists I’m working with.  Here’s a quick rundown of what to look for this season!

Our Fall acting internship is well under way with 12 wonderfully talented performers working in the office, taking improvisation classes with our Fall acting instructor Naima Moffet-Warden and getting ready to perform in our Writer/Director Forum in December.  The rising stars are: Joey Lozada, Olivia Boyle, Samantha Cains, Cindy de la Cruz, Nathalie Frederick, Josiah Laubenstein, Norma Perez-Hernandez, Kiley Rothweiler, Nathaniel Ryan, Jodi Savitz, Chanel Thomas and Nick Zappetti.

Dragonslayer -- A free developmental reading this Saturday, September 24 at 7 p.m.  I co-wrote this with long-standing collaborator Judy Sheehan.  This is the first time I’ve had the honor of co-authoring a piece with this consummate professional.  One of the original co-creators of Tony-N-Tina’s Wedding, Judy has had eight shows (I hope I counted them all!) produced here at Looking Glass.  I’m so excited to go on this journey as we create an entire world and one amazing character together.

Calamity Jane Battles the Horrible Hoopsnakes -- Already cast with rehearsals underway, this family show is a piece of laughter and childhood.  Inspired by our own Jacquelyn Honeybourne’s love of the traditional American Tall Tales, E. J.C. Calvert has written an original story about the plucky heroine as a young girl faced with an unusual and hilarious situation involving scaredy snakes- wait, I meant scary snakes of course… or did I? ;-) Runs October 15 through November 20.

Co-Op Theatre East Residency-- We are so excited by our new partnership with this amazing company.  They will be an artist in residence for the entire season starting this Fall with bi-monthly workshops and Radio COTE, their 2nd annual radio play festival on November 15.

Staged Readings of New Works – The 5 shorts for $5 bucks series returns! Title TBA. On Wednesday, October 26, we’ll be holding the third of our exciting new short play reading series.  Based on the set of the current show (in this case it will be Calamity Jane, so who knows??!), so far the themes have been “Submerged” and “Naked.”  With an open call for artists to create “on theme,” we’ve already had amazing and inspired work come out of this series from veterans and rookies alike.  I am truly excited about the potential for growth and new projects this program is bringing us.

Big Benefit Party- Our Fall benefit party is set for Tuesday, November 8 from 6-10pm.  That’s right, Election Day!  So put it in your calendar; after you rock the vote, come rock with us.  Planning is well underway; our interns have begun soliciting (and getting!) exciting raffle prizes and musical guests are banging down the doors (well…they’re emailing) for the opportunity to perform.  It’s going to be a blast!

theater IN ASYLUM’s Frankenstein – This exciting Fall space grant recipient presents their re-imaging of Mary Shelley’s classic November 15-19.  I enjoyed reading this proposal so much, and I can’t wait to see this show happen in our space.

Winter 2011 Writer/Director Forum -- Of course, this half of our season will culminate with our semi-annual festival of new works in December.  We have a very full Forum with ten talented directors currently in the process of choosing their projects and getting geared up for the big meeting in early October.  We have a perfect mix of experienced artists and new blood this go round and I am not exaggerating when I say this one promises to be one of the best. With planning started earlier than ever and the ideas flowing so smoothly already, I can’t believe I have to wait until December to see these shows!

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Justine Lambert
Artistic Director
Looking Glass Theatre - www.lookingglasstheatrenyc.com

Read my recent director to director interview - http://www.2amtheatre.com/2011/08/24/spotlight-meet-justine-lambert-director/

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Notes from Justine- All About Readings... but not really

Notes From Justine:

All About Readings….but not really.

Just a Reading/Submerged

Last week was such a fun week at super-busy Looking Glass Theatre. We just closed the beautifully theatrical and much adored (by audiences small and large) Three By the Sea. Read audience quotes and view photos here; http://lookingglasstheatrenyc.com/ThreeBytheSea.html

On Thursday (4/7/11) I got my first peek into rehearsals of Just a Reading (Written by Ryan Glass, Directed by Chanda Calentine).

We theatre people love a good play-within -a -play and this is quite a special one. It’s a full production masquerading as “just a reading.” A handful of actors (played by the very talented ensemble of Jenn Boehm, Michael Sean Cirelli, Brandon Ferraro, Cas Marino, Alexandra Mingione and Stephen Reich) casually enter the theatre, greeting each other, adjusting the folding chairs and picking up their scripts. We are introduced to the players and then hear the beginning of a witty little play about a new hit band about to embark on their first tour. So far this could indeed be a simple reading but some weird behavior begins to interrupt the action of the “play.” Actors break character and the playwright isn’t willing to discuss any of the problems that begin to arise. What’s happening becomes clear to us, the audience. This play is about these actors’ real lives and it’s freaking them out. As you can probably tell from the photo, at some point things go terribly wrong…. But Alan the playwright (now a big shot in Hollywood) has some clout (and manic energy) on his side and is going to see this through to the bitter (or will it be sweet?) end! I can’t wait to see how the play continues to evolve at rehearsal this week!

Friday night pre-show I attended a mysterious and exciting meeting with two Looking Glass artists Jacqueline Honeybourne and Mark Gordon. Have I piqued your interest? Good. There’s an unusual project on the horizon here, more on that in the future. Then I attended the first incarnation of a new play reading series. The brainchild of Producer/Director Aliza Shane, the concept is to solicit new short (10-15 minute) work from our artists based on the set of each mainstage production. This evening was based on the watery world of Three By the Sea so our theme was water and our title was Submerged. Billed as “5 shorts for $5 bucks” there isn’t a better deal in town! Also billed as “Staged Readings”, these five plays were almost mini productions. Most actors were off book and fully blocked. Scripts were in hand and referred to however which served as a good reminder that this was indeed work in progress. The evening went off without a hitch and was truly a blast. Actors, playwrights and directors all seemed charged up about the work and the new series. It was so exciting to see artists involved from our past, some who haven’t been with us for years. Just a couple of the shows represented were Adventures of the Puppet Princess (’08), Anna's Perfect Party & The Amazing Magician's Marvelous Mistake (’09), Ask Someone Else, God (’09), Are You There, Zeus? It's Me, Electra (’09), and many many more! I now find myself wondering what the theme might be for Just a Reading’s set? After all, it is basically an empty, stripped theatre.

Our very own bare black box.

The creative possibilities, as always with a blank page, are truly endless.

Justine Lambert

Founding Artistic Director