Halberstadt's 'notJENNY'

Alumni news, in brief:

Brian Tuttle's August and Autumn begins its second (and final) week tomorrow in Vagabond Theatre's production, right here at BPT...

Back by popular demand: Karen Zacarías' The Book Club Play is slated for a return engagement at Atlanta's Horizon Theatre Company, where the play was a massive hit last season...

"not Jenny" by MJ Halberstadt opens Dec. 6, produced by Bridge Repertory Theater. Read the feature from last week's Boston Globe!

Lots of BPT (and BTM) alums will be represented in next month's Boston One-Minute Play Festival: Steven Barkhimer, Peter M. Floyd, Deirdre Girard, John Greiner-Ferris, MJ Halberstadt, Heather Houston, Colleen Hughes, Dan Hunter, Ginger Lazarus, Emily Kaye Lazzaro, Walt McGough, K. Alexa Mavromatis, Matt Mayerchak, Cliff Odle, Rick Park, Payne Ratner, Karmo Sanders, John Shea, Donna Sorbello and Joyce Van Dyke will all contribute plays to this annual event, now in its third year...

Alumni news, in brief:

Ronan Noone's new play, The Compass Rose (produced by Fat Violet Theatre), is part of NYC's annual 1st Irish Festival Sept. 12-29...

Molly Smith Metzler's Elemeno Pea plays at Carolina Actors Studio Theatre through Sept. 21...

SL1 12:32 a.m. by K. Alexa Mavromatis was voted Audience Favorite at The T Plays V: Last Call, presented by the Mill 6 Collaborative...

MJ Halberstadt's My Grandson the Power Bottom is the next Ink Spots Staged Reading (presented by Fresh Ink Theatre) on Sept. 4...

John Greiner-Ferris was one of The Glass Eye's August playwrights...

Monica Bauer's solo show The Year I Was Gifted will be presented as part of Stage Left Studio's Women at Work Festival Sept. 23-Oct.5...

Weekend festival features plays by Halberstadt, Parsons, and Villano

Forgive me for stating the obvious here, but what an incredible line-up of last season's KCACTF Region I finalists (including Michael S. Parson's Cauble Award-winning play) at KNOW Theatre in Binghamton. Congratulations, guys! Fabulous!

Halberstadt's Da Vinci opens tonight

Can't Wait Productions' production of MJ Halberstadt's The Da Vinci Commission opens tonight at the Erick Jean Center for the Arts in Dorchester. Congrats, MJ!

Alumni news, in brief:

Lots of alums will have work onstage this weekend in Boston Theater Marathon XV and The Warm-Up Laps, including Steven Barkhimer, Deirdre Girard, John Kuntz, K. Alexa Mavromatis, Ronan Noone, Rick Park, Michael S. Parsons, Wesley Savick (in collaboration with Michael Wartofsky), Phil Schroeder, Michael Towers, Sinan Ünel, and Joyce Van Dyke...

Lisa Loomer's Distracted -- directed by Wesley Savick -- opens at Central Square Theater this week...

Les Hunter's play Cyrano de Bergen County, New Jersey was produced last month by Belton High School in Belton, Texas...

Great insight from Lydia Diamond on HowlRound.com...

Some familiar names were part of Fresh Ink's season three announcement last week...

Alumni news, in brief:

Lots to look forward to in the way of alumni productions this spring and summer…and beyond. Here’s a round-up (by no means all-inclusive, of course):

John Greiner-Ferris’ Plank will get “Fresh Produce-d” by NYC’s The Glass Eye on April 18…

Can’t Wait Productions will present MJ Halberstdt’s The DaVinci Commission in May…

Molly Smith Metzler’s Close Up Space opens at Houston’s Main Street Theater on May 23…

Alumni news, in brief:

Demonio at Clybourne Park

The CFA’s production of John Shea’s Erin Go Bragh-less has been honored by KCACTF as a Distinguished Production of a New Work; director Hondo Weiss-Richmond was recognized as a Distinguished Director of A New Play; and the cast and crew were honored as a Distinguished Performance and Production Ensemble…

Michael Parsons’ one-act The Lighthouse is a finalist for KCACTF’s John Cauble Award for Outstanding Short play…

Don’t miss Company One’s XXPlayLab Festival this weekend, featuring discussion panels and readings of new work by Lydia Diamond and BPT friends Kirsten Greenidge and Natalia Naman…

Alumni news, in brief:

Kate Snodgrass will be a featured playwright at this year’s Great Plains Theatre Conference in May, where she will respond to work from playwrights all over the country…

Joyce Van Dyke is one of nine area playwrights selected to receive grants from the Massachusetts Cultural Council…

MJ Halberstadt’s A Mother’s Heart and Rick Park’s Laissez les bon Temps Roulez are part of Heart & Dagger’s Such Times: A Sex Fest of Short Original Plays, opening this weekend at BPT…

And that’s just part of MJ’s busy week, as his short play there must ALways be A KAren is one of three plays featured in Interim Writers’ Have You Read? new play series on Mar. 3…

Colleen Hughes on punctuation personalities and the conflict between being a playwright and copyeditor…

Now how's this for some alumni news:

Reunion: At last week's KCACTF Region 1 Festival in Hyannis, BPT classmates (L-R) MJ Halberstadt, Jaclyn Villano, and Michael Parsons. All three have plays (MJ's ten-minute w4m, Jaclyn's one-act The Rain Fell Up, and Michael's one-act The Lighthouse) advancing to the National Festival in April as Region 1 Finalists.

Congratulations, team!

Alumni news, in brief:

Donna Sorbello was one in a cast of very familiar faces in ABC's The Makeover, which was filmed in Boston last summer. If you didn't catch it, look for it in re-runs on the Hallmark Channel...

M. Lynda Robinson – and members of her 10-minute play workshop at the Gloucester Writers Center – will present staged readings of new work on Feb 10…

Emily Kaye Lazzaro will next appear onstage in Heart & Dagger’s production of A Dream Play, opening on Feb. 22…

Alumni news, in brief:

Melinda Lopez

Melinda Lopez is one of 14 playwrights nationwide selected to receive a three-year playwriting residency, part of a new initiative of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Melinda will begin her residency at The Huntington this summer; check out the article from yesterday’s Boston Globe for details, including a complete list of playwrights – Masha Obolensky’s sister Kira is also on the list…

Opening this weekend: Acme Theater’s New Works Winter Festival, featuring plays by Peter Floyd (Love, Billy Bunny), Rick Park (Santer Baby), and BTM vets galore…

Deirdre Girard’s play Dance for Fiona will be read as part of The North Shore Readers Theatre Collaborative’s monthly reading series at the Actors Studio of Newburyport on Jan. 12…

MJ Halberstadt’s The Da Vinci Commission opens Jan. 12 at Cambridge’s Gallery 263…

K. Alexa Mavromatis’ play Bone China is included in the new edition of the college textbook Creative Writing: Four Genres in Brief (David Starkey, Bedford/St. Martin’s)…

Home at BPT for the holidays

Deborah Lake Fortson, MJ Halberstadt, Colleen Hughes

A few photos from Monday night's annual Holiday Donor Thank-You Party at BPT. What a fun night!

Alumni news, in brief:

One-act plays by Michael Parsons (The Lighthouse) and Jaclyn Villano (The Rain Fell Up), and ten-minute plays by MJ Halberstadt (w4m) and Jaclyn Villano (Ratings Worthy) will be presented at the KCACTF Region 1 Festival. The event will be held in Hyannis in January...

Walt McGough has been announced as one of the Huntington Theatre Company’s 2012-14 cohort of Huntington Playwriting Fellows. Catch a reading of his play The Haberdasher tonight at 7 p.m. at BPT, part of Boston Actors Theater’s Beantown Reading Series…

A very nice review of Fresh Ink’s production of Ginger Lazarus’ The Embryos, which starts its final weekend of performances on Thursday...

Alumni news, in brief:

Whoa – LOTS of love for BPT peeps in the nominations for the 2012 BroadwayWorld Boston Awards, including John Kuntz (Best Actor in a Play, Medium Theater for The Hotel Nepenthe), Emily Kaye Lazzaro (Best Actress in a Play, Small/Fringe for Murph and Priscilla Dreams the Answer), Melinda Lopez (Best Actress in a Play, Medium Theater for The Motherf**cker with the Hat), Rick Park (Best Actor in a Play, Medium Theater for Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo and Best Actor in a Play, Small/Fringe for The Friends of Eddie Coyle), and the entire cast of The Company We Keep (Marianna Bassham, John Kooi, Bill Mootos, and Jessica Webb). The Company We Keep was also nominated for Best Play, Small/Fringe, and director Elena Aroaz for Best Direction of a Play, Small/Fringe…

Alumni news, in brief:

Ronan Noone’s The Atheist opens this week at the Lion and Unicorn Theatre in North London…

Genevieve Jessee performed her solo show It All Looks Hand-Me-Down (formerly Girl in, but not of, the 'Hood) at the Atlanta Black Theatre Festival last month...
 
We blog: Emily Kaye Lazzaro shows off her contribution to Fresh Ink’s recent fundraiser and [since more rough weather is on the way this week] opines about How to Utilize a Hurricane Day as a Writer; MJ Halberstadt contemplates What’s Math Got to do With It?; Colleen Hughes is participating in NaPlWriMo this November [Should you be doing that too?]; and John Greiner-Ferris on his recent stage turn at Roxbury Repertory Theater…

Jonathon Myers on Mass Digi and The Importance of Community…

Alumni news, in brief:

John Kuntz opens this week in the American Repertory Theater production of The Lily’s Revenge by Taylor Mac…

Lydia Diamond was appointed a co-vice president of Theatre Communications Group…

Karmo Sanders’ short play Homer was a finalist for this year’s McLaren Memorial Playwriting Award…

On Oct. 16th, The Naked Stage will present the first public staged reading of Monica Bauer’s new play, Porter's Will, at the John Drew Theater at Guild Hall in Southampton, Long Island…

Emily Kaye Lazzaro offers her experience of last week’s StageSource soiree, and proclaims “I’m not cool.” For the record, EKL, I disagree…

To scarf, or not to scarf? and much more in MJ Halberstadt’s latest dispatches from Paris…

Alumni news, in brief:

Steve Barkhimer discusses his Blood Rose Rising series of plays (co-created with Ben Evett) and other projects – and even quotes Kate – on ArtSake, the Massachusetts Cultural Council’s blog…

Rick Park has been cast as Tiger in Rajiv Joseph's Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo, which opens next month at Company One…

All the latest on MJ Halberstadt’s adventures (successful writing AND laundry) in Paris…

Here’s a nice DigBoston article about SpeakEasy’s production of The Mother F**cker with the Hat, featuring Melinda Lopez…

Monica Bauer’s The Maternal Instinct is now available on Indie Theater Now…

Alumni news, in brief:

The Underground Railway Theater production of Wes Savick’s Car Talk: The Musical!!! (music by Michael Wartofsky) has been extended a second time, and will play at Central Square Theater until Sept. 16…

Karmo Sanders returned to Alaska – where her show Gold Rush Girls (music by Jerry Sanders) wrapped up its sold-out six-week run at Cyrano’s Theatre Company on Sept. 2 – to help direct a concert version of the show that will run on Alaska Public Broadcasting during the station’s pledge week this fall…

Ah! Paris!

Photo: Ze Laing Photography

It's crazy to think that summer is almost over! But with the change in season comes lots to look forward to, too. MJ Halberstadt fills us in on his big plans for fall...

This fall I will be living and writing in Paris and London thanks to the support of Boston University Creative Writing’s Global Fellowship in Playwriting. I regard this opportunity as a tremendous gift and opportunity, but also an enormous responsibility (à la Peter Parker’s uncle Ben’s words of wisdom).

Here’s the itinerary in a nutshell: My boyfriend and I will fly to Europe at the end of this month. Nicholas will join me for my first two weeks in Paris (in the flat I’m renting in the 3^rd arrondissement) before flying back to Boston (boo!) and beginning a new job (yay!) which leaves me on my own in the City of Light until Halloween when I will take the Chunnel to London and live with my sister and her husband in Ealing (West London). I return to the States shortly after what I imagine will be a very subdued Thanksgiving. During that time I am not working, I am not attending class and I am not logging onto Facebook because focus is going to be key.