Category: WTF

Actors: 24/7 2013

What a freakin line up a talent.  Read em and weep.  The come see them on stage on Jan, 19, 2013 in the 5th annual, yet always new 27/7:

  • 24-7 Actors 2013Abigail Wiebe
  • Marija Reiff
  • Mary Burruss
  • Barbara Roberts
  • Amy Barrick
  • Marty Moore
  • Normajean Hultman
  • Sarah Edwards
  • Christina Ball
  • Jen Downey
  • Edwina Herring
  • Kate Tooley
  • Kate Bennis
  • Sara Shotwell
  • Michelle Majorin
  • Geri Schirmer
  • Emily Vere Nicoll
  • Daniel Prillaman
  • Robert Wray
  • Phil Horne
  • Jude Silvera
  • Ike Anderson
  • Mitch Voss
  • Brad Fraizer
  • Nick Heiderstadt
  • Brandon Lee
  • David Hopper

Go buy tickets soon, this show always sells out…

 

Cville Weekly gets CrazyBusy

Andrew Cedermark, Arts Editor for the C-ville Weekly, came to CrazyBusy and got a good, fast, dose of theatrical WTF.

Oh, why are we writing for a writer, here: read his words…. (first 1/3 of full article below).

Full,  Original Article:  http://www.c-ville.com/Article/Feedback_Column/Play_it_33_times_fast

Play it 33 times fast:Fast-paced plays help send Cry of the Mountain to Edinburgh

BY ANDREW CEDERMARK
It was a big night. Bobo the Mime walked his invisible dog Pinky for the last time. Two dudes shared an emotional breakthrough while watching a football game on TV. A young widow paid an unpleasant visit to her former mother-in-law’s. A date between two puppies went south after it emerged one was not pure Beagle, as was earlier suggested.

 

Ray Nedzel directed a show called CrazyBusy—consisting of 33 plays in 55 minutes—last week, a fundraiser to bring Cry of the Mountain, Adelind Horan’s (pictured) one-woman show about mountaintop removal, to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe next month.

These were some of the shorts performed at CrazyBusy, a manic theater event hosted last weekend by Whole Theatre at Live Arts. In it, a team of 12 actors performed 33 original two-minute pieces over the course of less than an hour. The performances were a fundraiser for a batch of locals hoping to cover the considerable cost of staging Cry of the Mountain, Adelind Horan’s one-woman documentary play about mountaintop removal, at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, next month in Scotland.

As director (and Cry of the Mountain producer) Ray Nedzel explained while introducing CrazyBusy, playwrights generally spend a lot of time writing, and then even more time fielding rejection letters. But in the spirit of the unjuried Edinburgh Fringe—which claims to be the largest arts fest in the world—Nedzel’s call for scripts was, “I don’t care what you write. We’ll do it.”

As must be the case in Edinburgh, you wouldn’t expect to see a string of 33 plays and have them all to be great. But because of its relentless pace, with one scene blending into the next, CrazyBusy remained exciting. For “Show Tunes Urinal,” written by the ensemble, local stage regular Nick Heiderstadt simply walked up to a urinal, unzipped and started singing “Jesus Christ Superstar.” It became an awkward moment as Napoleon Tavale ripped into an intense dramatic short called “Pelican,” by the local playwright Robert Wray.

Full  Original Article:  http://www.c-ville.com/Article/Feedback_Column/Play_it_33_times_fast

Cry of the Charlottesville Mountain

 

Shows:

Cry of the Mountain — with special guest performances: CrazyBusy* and Pregnant Again!**

Place:

Live Arts, Upstage

Dates and Times:

June 23, 24, 25 at 8pm; June 26 at 2:15pm

Ticket Prices:

See it early; see it often: Tickets from $5 to $50 dollars.

A Fundraising Event to send Cry of the Mountain to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

  • Thursday, 23rd, 8PM, Cry of the Mountain and CrazyBusy:  $5
  • Friday, 24th, 8PM, Cry of the Mountain and CrazyBusy (opening night party): $10
  • Saturday, 25th, 8PM, Cry of the Mountain and CrazyBusy $15 (and **Pregnant Again! The R. Kelly Monologues.  And Party)
  • Sunday, 26th, 2:15PM, CRY OF THE MOUNTAIN, solo, at its Edinburgh Fringe Festival time slot.  A special fundraising show, MTR presentation, discussions with the Artist, and experts on Mountaintop Removal.  Tickets: $25 and $50

* CRAZY/BUSY: 33 plays in 55 minutes.  Written by local writers and performed by local actors.

** Pregnant Again!: The R. Kelly Monologues are R. Kelly lyrics delivered verbatim as performance art monologues — directed by Mendy St. Ours.   Explicit Lyrics Warning.  Explicit Laughter Warning.

Cry of the Mountain is present with generous support from Live Arts.
Live Arts, Forging Theatre and Community.
www.livearts.org

And with sponsorship from the Piedmont Council for the Arts.
Connect. Engage. Explore. Learn.
www.http://charlottesvillearts.org/

Crazy Busy Actors

We, we, we so excited!  We so excited!

Look at this line up of on stage talent.  Actors for CrazyBusy.  Folks who signed up to perform the plays of local playwrights without even knowing what the plays would be.

Oh, and not just one play, 33 plays in 55 minutes.

Wow.  Doff your hats in respect.

Actors for the Crazy Busy

CrazyBusy Actors:

  • Chris Baumer
  • Clair Chandler
  • Nick Heidershadt
  • Edwina Herring
  • Tim Macnamara
  • Marty Moore
  • Julian Oquendo
  • Angela Kay Pirko
  • Sara Shotwell
  • Miller Murray Susen
  • Napoleon Tavale
  • Katy Walker

Crazy Busy Plays June 2011

Well, smack down in the middle of wonderful you’ll find these plays and monologues by 24 locally sourced playwrights.

Crazy Busy: The June 2011 Line up of Plays
Crazy Busy: The June 2011 Line up of Plays

This is the line up, but not necessarily the order for Crazy Busy, June, 2011

  • HUNGER by Angela Pirko
  • EAST SIDE WEST SIDE by Bill Rough
  • BURNT TOAST by Chris Baumer
  • WEIGHTED HANDS by Collier Lumpkin
  • YOUR MOM by Conor Kyle
  • JULIE IN SANTA FE by Jennifer Hoyt Tidwell
  • MISS UTILITY by Jennifer Hoyt Tidwell
  • DEATH OF BOOKS by Karen Ratzlaff
  • TRIPLE TALL NO FOAM by Amanda Lewis
  • CUP OF COFFEE by Lance Stewart
  • PINKY’S LAST SHOW by Larry Goldstein
  • DON’T GET OUT MUCH by Mendy St. Ours
  • FLY AWAY by Miller Susen
  • PELICANS by Robert Wray
  • SAMMY by Sara Shotwell
  • SEAL TEAM SEX by Alex Grubbs
  • TAILGATING by Amanda Lewis
  • MEAL PLANNING by Chris Baumer
  • CARRY by Clinton Johnston
  • NEVER THE TWAIN by Elizabeth Feuller
  • DOUBLE STRENGTH by Jenny Mead
  • BOY AND GIRL WITH BOY AND GIRL by Julian Oquendo
  • THE PICK UP ARTIST by Leslie Baskfeild
  • BAD TEETH by Matthew Minnicino
  • FOUR-THREE-LINE PLAYS by the Group
  • MOUTHS OF BABES by Mendy St. Ours
  • THE MAKEOVER by Miller Susen
  • PUPPY LOVE by Peter Gunter
  • HELMET TO HELMET by Ray Nedzel
  • THE QUIZ by Stephen Sossaman

 

 

Crazy Busy Playwrights Announced

Oh, my, oh, my….

We are still sorting through and ordering all of the plays that were submitted, but we can tell you, with full certainty, that the playwrights represented in this Crazy Busy Summer 2011 are some of the finest playwrights in Jefferson’s Virginia.

Rock on and read this list of scriptwriting gorgeousness:

  • Playwrights for Crazy/Busy Summer 2011Alex Grubbs
  • Amanda Lewis
  • Angela Pirko
  • Bill Rough
  • Chris Baumer
  • Clinton Johnston
  • Collier Lumpkin
  • Conor Kyle
  • Elizabeth Fuller
  • Jennifer Tidwell
  • Jenny Mead
  • Julian Oquendo
  • Karen Ratzlaff
  • Kevin ODonnell
  • Lance Stewart
  • Larry Goldstein
  • Leslie Baskfeild
  • Matthew Minnicino
  • Mendy St. Ours
  • Miller Susen
  • Peter Gunter
  • Ray Nedzel (what?  how’d he get a play in the mix?)
  • Robert Wray
  • Sara Shotwell
  • Stephen Sossaman
  • Ty Cooper (sorry, alphabetical by first name.)

Looking to get in,  we still have a few actor slots and crew positions open.  Get a hold a ray at ray@wholetheatre.org

 

Crazy Busy Playwrights

Crazy Busy: Information for Playwrights
Crazy Busy: Information for Playwrights
Here’s the challenge for you to kick this thing off in June.
Write:
  • a two minute monologue and a one minute play
  • OR
  • a one minute monologue and a two minute play
Rules:
  • each must be new
  • you must write both a monologue and a play
  • each can be shorter
  • neither can be longer
  • you cannot borrow time from on to give to the other
  • plays can have 2 to 5 characters
  • we promise to use one – we may use both
  • please title each
  • submit by May 16th, via email to Ray@wholetheatre.org as MSWord, Open Office, or PDF.

I’d like for the monologues and plays to be written and re-written (if not re-re-written) before the submission.

  • Then Robert Wray, Peter Gunter, Elizabeth Fuller, Denise Stewart and I will compile the show from the submissions.
  • I will gather an ensemble cast do all the parts in all 33 peices.
  • This will be performed at Live Arts as a companion piece to Addie Horan’s Cry of the Mountain.
  • I will direct the show, and will gladly take the help of fellow directors to work on 4-6 pieces each.  Let me know if interested.
  • Performance dates: June 24th and 25th; Live Arts, Upstage.
  • You, if you write, will get a free ticket to the show.

We may (likely will) ask for rewrites along the way, but naturally you will remain the final say on the text and the owner/copyright owner of the script.  We will use parts, segments and even whole plays as clips and advertising.

I have seen in very short plays – a one shot gimmick. That’s OK, but I say, try not to rely on the gimmick. Raise the stakes, raise the comedy, rewrite the entire script.  Have someone read it back to you.  Why here, why now? I’m not fully sure what the outcome will be but I’d like it to be fun and funny and awesome and reveling and real.

Bring it,
Thanks,
Ray