Thursday, December 10, 2009

2009 People of the Year

So much to talk about!

First up, Martin Denton and the good people at nytheatre.com have named me one of 2009's People of the Year!

At the New York Innovative Theatre Awards Martin and Rochelle gave a rousing, articulate speech about the hard work and commitment that goes into making art. I remember sitting in the audience and really digging what they were saying. "They really get it and believe in it," I thought. And that is part of what makes this recognition so special for me. We're all in it together and although they're not performers, they're a big part of who we are and what we do. They understand the struggle and participate themselves. Their staff sees a zillion shows a year and I know I am one of the great multitude who rely on this website for the word on what is going on in the community. I remain completely floored.

Two of the three shows mentioned in my POY bio were shows I did with Vampire Cowboys (Soul Samurai and Fight Girl Battle World) and I have to say I owe a huge debt to them. They are a tremendous group who have done outstanding work for many years and taken me along for the ride. Part of what makes them so special is the quality of the collaboration, and in both of those shows I was a member of an incredible, true ensemble. The third show was Temar Underwood's The Brokenhearteds and again, all of us were up there as one and they all blew my mind. We did it all together.


Secondly, two shows are lined up for next season. The first is Robert Ross Parker's production of Goodbye Cruel World in January with Roundtable Ensemble. The play is an adaptation (Robert's) of a play called The Suicide by Nikolai Erdman and it's fast, furious, and physical in the best comic traditions. It'll be at The Arclight Theatre on 71st street, more details to come.

Following on the heels of that will be the Off-Broadway premiere of Michi Barall's play Iph, Then with the Obie-award winning Ma-Yi Theater. Visionary director and, ahem, Obie-award winner Loy Arcenas, who directed their brilliant production of The Romance of Magno Rubio and the workshop of I__NY, will return for this as well. That'll be sometime in March/April at The Ohio. More details to come.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Yay, Paco! So well deserved.