Tag: alumni

Qui Nguyen has some exciting news!

September 7, 2016
by catherineforever666
· alumni · News · Productions · Qui Nguyen

OU Alum Qui’s career has been blowing up like a rocketship! First of all his hit play “Vietgone” will be coming to Manhattan Theater Club in NYC for its NYC world premiere. Read an article about his new play here

He also now Just finished writing/shooting upcoming Syfy TV show “Incorporated“(which goes on air November 30th) and also just got a job as a writer for Marvel Studios!

Congrats Qui!

Go see Vietgone!

NY premiere play by Qui Nguyen
Directed by May Adrales
With: Jon Hoche, Jennifer Ikeda, Raymond Lee, Samantha Quan, Paco Tolson

Previews Begin: Oct 4, 2016

A modern twist on the all-American love story, Vietgone by Qui Nguyen (She Kills Monsters) is the classic story of boy meets girl—except this boy and girl are refugees from the Vietnam War, newly settled in a relocation camp inside Middle America. Borrowing elements from the world of up-to-the-minute popular culture to recreate the playwright’s own parents’ meeting, Vietgone skips through time and around the globe to present a fresh theatrical take on a moving account of one real family’s history.

Vietgone is produced in association with South Coast Repertory.

Location: MTC Stage I at City Center
Oct 4 – Dec 4, 2016
Buy tickets here

More about Qui

Qui Nguyen is a playwright, TV/Film writer, and Co-Founder of the OBIE Award-winning Vampire Cowboys of NYC. His work, known for its innovative use of pop-culture, stage violence, puppetry, and multimedia, has been called “Culturally Savvy Comedy” by The New York Times, “Tour de Force Theatre” by Time Out New York, and “Infectious Fun” by Variety.

Scripts include Vietgone (South Coast Rep, Oregon Shakespeare Company, Manhattan Theatre Club, Seattle Rep), She Kills Monsters (The Flea, Buzz22 Chicago/Steppenwolf, Company One); Begets: Fall of a High School Ronin (Waterwell); War is F**king Awesome (Sundance); Krunk Fu Battle Battle (East West Players); Bike Wreck (EST); Trial By Water (Ma-Yi Theater); Aliens vs Cheerleaders (Keen Teens); Soul Samurai; The Inexplicable Redemption of Agent G (Ma-Yi Theater & Vampire Cowboys); and the critically acclaimed Vampire Cowboys productions of Six Rounds of Vengeance, Alice in Slasherland; Fight Girl Battle World; Men of Steel; and Living Dead in Denmark.

Two exciting summer projects by alums!

August 1, 2016
by catherineforever666
· alumni · News · podcast

Both Chanel Glover and Jacquelyn Reingold are up to awesome things this summer! Jacqueline has a new TV show on CBS called “BrainDead” and Chanel has a new podcast “Overqualified and Drunk” that’s now available on ITunes! Enjoy the rest of your summer with some OU flavor, download and record these things today!!

To download Chanel’s podcast click here

Description

Two Overqualified & Drunk black lesbians living in New York City talk spirituality, lesbian love (or nah), and the two things that bind them together, music and booze. Thirty-something year-old Chanel and twenty-something year-old Chloe (going on 50) discuss what ultimately makes them ‘overqualified’ and drunk. Disclaimer – this is raw, extremely jaded and uncut. If you want to tell us why you’re overqualified and drunk or just want to hit us up, you can reach us at: Twitter: @ODChanelChloe Instagram: @ODChanelChloe

More about “BrainDead”

BrainDead” is a comic-thriller set in the world of Washington, D.C. politics that follows Laurel, a young, fresh-faced Hill staffer who discovers two things: the government has stopped working, and bugs are eating the brains of Congress members and Hill staffers. The daughter of a Democratic political dynasty who left Washington, D.C. to become a documentary filmmaker, Laurel is pulled back into THE FAMILY business when her brother, Luke, the Democratic whip Senator from Maryland, needs her help running his Senate office. On the Hill, Laurel becomes unlikely friends with Gareth, the smart, hardworking Legislative Director to a top Republican, Senator Red Wheatus.

Jeff Chastang’s play in the Alabama Shakespeare Fest!

July 25, 2016
by catherineforever666
· alumni · Awards · News · Productions

Recent alumni Jeff Chastang has been racking up some exciting accomplishments with his play Dauphin Island, which had a production at OU. At OU people were super impressed by the plays fascinating and troubled characters and the smooth storytelling. The play was previously developed through the Southern Writers’ Project and will be presented at Alabama Shakespeare Festival this April ! Look at those OU plays out in the world!

The play has also won the prestigious Edgerton Foundation New Play award for 2016-17. Broadway World writes about this award,” the Edgerton Foundation has distributed New Play Awards every year since 2006, inviting hand-picked theaters “with a strong and consistent track record of producing new work” to apply. Awards provide new plays by American playwrights with an extended rehearsal period, allowing for a more thorough development process than many new plays are afforded.”

Congrats Jeff!

Go see the play!

March 23rd, 2017-April 9th, 2017

A world-premiere production by Jeffry Chastang, developed by the Southern Writers’ Project in which suspicion and fascination dovetail when (en route from Detroit to a new job on Dauphin Island) Selwyn Tate interrupts the self-imposed isolation of Kendra in the Alabama woods — dramatizing the risks involved when two displaced souls intertwine.

Location: 1 Festival Drive
Montgomery, AL 36117

Buy tickets here

More about Jeff

Michigan-born Jeffry Chastang was the recipient of the Kennedy Center Roger L. Stevens Award for his first play FULL CIRCLE, which was produced by Detroit’s Plowshares Theater Company. Plowshares also produced his second play …CONTINUED WARM, which was named Best New Play by the Oakland Press. He was commissioned by the Alabama Shakespeare Festival (ASF) to write BLOOD DIVIDED, a play marking the sesquicentennial of the Civil War in Montgomery, Alabama. BLOOD DIVIDED also received an Edgerton Foundation New Plays Award. Jeffry’s play PREPARATIONS was developed in ASF’s Southern Writers Project. As an actor his professional credits include FENCES, THE OLD SETTLER and A SOLDIER’S PLAY.

Ira Gamerman has new short play at Serials in NYC this month!

July 14, 2016
by catherineforever666
· alumni · New York · News

Alum Ira Gamerman has gotten a new short play “Jeffs Jewish Dating Service” in the highly competitive “serials” live theater competition series produced by the in-house acting troupe, the Bats, at the Flea Theater in NYC.

Here is how they describe this fun play competition on their website:

#serials@theflea is a raucous late night play competition featuring The Bats and some of NYC’s hottest young playwrights and directors. This event, which runs Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 11:00pm includes 1 FREE beer with the purchase of a ticket. All tickets are only $12.

In #serials@theflea, five teams of Bats perform original ten-minute episodic plays. The audience votes for its three favorite plays, which return the next week with a new installment. The teams with the two least popular stories must likewise come back the following week, but with entirely different serialized plays.”

Ira’s play runs this Thursday through Saturday (14th-16th) and next Thursday-Saturday(21st-23rd). Buy tickets here!! Congrats Ira!

More about Ira:

IRA LAWRENCE GAMERMAN is a Baltimore-bred AustraliAmerican Playwright, Podcaster, Script Consultant, Screenwriter, Musician, and Educator based in NYC.

Ira’s theatrical work has been performed at The Kennedy Center, Samuel French OOB, Ensemble Studio Theater, Short & Sweet Sydney, Collaboraction (at the Steppenwolf Garage), F*It Club, Source Festival, Single Carrot, The Australian Broadcast Corporation, and The Chicago New Media Summit (among many other places around the globe). In 2006, City Paper voted Ira “Best Playwright Of Baltimore”. In 2009, Dated: A Cautionary Tale For Facebook Users was a New York Innovative Theater Award nominee for best short play. Ira has received playwriting grants from the Maryland State Arts Council and Chicago Union League. BILLY BITCHASS will be published in THE BEST 10 MINUTE PLAYS OF 2016 by Smith & Kraus.

Ira holds a BA in Theater from Towson University, an MFA in Playwriting from Ohio University, and studied Devised theater at the (now defunct) Dartington College Of Art in the UK. He is a script consultant for Serbian Filmmaker Milica Zec (Sundance New Frontiers 2015). Ira has been published by Consequence Of Sound, High Times, Eleven Magazine, and Howlround. His work on The Wire remains his favorite acting gig to date.

Two Alums are up to exciting things this summer!

July 13, 2016
by catherineforever666
· alumni · News

Both Jacquelyn Reingold and Leean Kim Torske have exciting summer news! Reingold has a new TV show which she is writing/producing called “BrainDead” currently on CBS. It premiered Monday, June 13th at 10PM on CBS and is currently running. It was created by the “Good Wife” creators and ,” it centers on the Capitol in Washington, D.C., where alien bugs infect members of Congress.”(Wikipedia)

Leean Kim Torske just started a new theater company in Chicago with Mary Rose O’Connor called The Blue Ring.” The company is working with a lot of exciting new writers, including OU alum Mark Chrisler. Their Fractured Atlas page reads, “The Blue Ring produces plays about characters who are lacking in resources, experience, or information and are working through issues reflective of current events. Our name is inspired by our spirit animal, the blue ringed octopus, which is beautiful, malleable, slightly unexpected, and through evolution has become deadlier over time.” The Blue Ring has a fundraiser this Sunday night, July 17th in Chicago, go check it out!

More about Leean

Leean Kim Torske is a Chicago-based Korean/Norwegian-American playwright and dramaturg from the great state of Wyoming. She earned her MFA in Playwriting from Ohio University and her MA in Literary Studies from the University of Wyoming. Her play Pity Party is featured in Smith & Kraus’s anthology 105 Five-Minute Plays for Study and Performance, publication fall 2016. She is the co-founder and co-Artistic Director of The Blue Ring in Chicago, IL. Leean has been an Artistic Engagement Associate with Steppenwolf Theatre Company since June 2012.

More about Jacquelyn

Jacquelyn Reingold writes for theatre and television. She is currently a writer/producer for BRAINDEAD, created by Robert and Michele King, airing on CBS starting June 2016. She wrote for Netflix’s GRACE AND FRANKIE, created by Marta Kauffman and Howard J. Morris, starring Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, Martin Sheen and Sam Waterston. Other TV writing includes: NBC’s SMASH (Executive Producer, Theresa Rebeck), HBO’s Peabody Award winning IN TREATMENT (Executive Producer, Warren Leight), writing the “Mia” episodes for Emmy nominated Hope Davis and Gabriel Byrne. Recent plays include: I KNOW in Ensemble Studio Theatre’s One-act Marathon and UP AND DOWN for Christine Jones’ Theatre for One. Other plays include STRING FEVER at Ensemble Studio Theatre, starring Cynthia Nixon and Evan Handler, also produced at Playhouse West in California, and in Washington DC at Theatre J. She wrote an episode of the serialized play, CEDAR CITY FALLS, created and produced by Liz Tuccillo. Her one-acts THEY FLOAT UP, and A VERY VERY SHORT PLAY were produced in ’10 and ’08 at Ensemble Studio Theatre. Another one-act 2B (OR NOT 2B) was produced at The Actors Theatre of Louisville in 2009. Her full length play, A STORY ABOUT A GIRL was part of the JAW Playwrights Festival at Portland Center Stage, Oregon, and was workshopped at The Williamstown Theatre in ’13. Her other plays: GIRL GONE, 2B (OR NOT 2B), ACAPULCO, FOR-EVERETT, DEAR KENNETH BLAKE, DOTTIE AND RICHIE, TUNNEL OF LOVE, JILEY & LEDNERG, JOE AND STEW’S THEATRE, LOST AND FOUND, A.M.L., and FREEZE TAG have been produced or workshopped in New York at the MCC Theatre, Ensemble Studio Theatre, Naked Angels, HB Playwrights Theatre, the Drama League at HERE, All Seasons Theatre, Atlantic Theatre, and the Working Theatre; in Los Angeles; at theatres across the country; in London, Berlin, Belgrade, New Zealand, Australia, and Hong Kong.

Joseph Gallo has new play in New Jersey this month!

July 7, 2016
by catherineforever666
· Books · Events · News · world premiere

OU Playwriting alum Joseph Gallo has a new one man play “Long Gone Daddy” at Mile Square Theater that will be running July 21st through August 7th in Hoboken, New Jersey!

He also has a recently published play collection Two Plays: My Italy Story and Long Gone Daddy out! The book signing will be at Little City Books in Hoboken (100 Bloomfield Street) on Thursday, July 7 at 7:30 pm. There will be a Q & A afterwards conducted by Chris O’Connor, Artistic Director of Mile Square Theatre.

Congrats Joseph! Go see the play if you’re in the area!

Details on play

JULY 21 – AUGUST 7
Thurs-Sat @ 8pm • Sun @ 3pm
Tickets: $20 • $12 students/seniors

JULY 20 Preview
Wednesday, July 20 @ 8pm
Tickets: $18

Purchase tickets here

Long Gone Daddy chronicles the comic misadventures of becoming a stay-at-home father. From Bruce Springsteen concerts to OBGYN appointments to the Hoboken playgrounds and back again, Gallo’s semi-autobiographical play also wrestles with the memory of his own Dad, a former fireman, and the existential question, “When does a father earn the right to be called Dad?”

Recommended for audiences 16 and up.

More about Joe

Joseph Gallo’s play My Italy Story, which had its New York debut Off-Broadway at the 47th Street Theatre, and was nominated for the Gay Talese Literary Prize, was recently revived at Mile Square Theatre. His full-length plays include Warning: Adult Content (Theatre 54) and Staten Island (Circle Rep Lab), while his solo shows include Whizzy and The Jealousy Piece, both of which premiered in the American Living Room festival at HERE. He co-created, and wrote the text for two dance/theater pieces Tannhauser: A Dance Play and 80% of Love, both of which debuted in New York at the Obie award-winning Ice Factory Festival at the Ohio Theatre; the latter done in collaboration with company Rindfleisch, and subsequently transferred to the Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival. His work has additionally been seen on the stages of the Barrow Street Theatre, the Lark, Pearl Theater, Samuel Beckett Theatre, Playwrights Horizons, Penguin Rep, TheaterWorks, 12 Miles West, 78th Street Theatre, Waterfront Ensemble, Atlantic Theatre Company, Cincinnati Playhouse, Delaware Stage Company, Seven Angels Theatre, Orlando Fringe Festival, Manhattan Class Company, the Kennedy Center, Bridge Theatre Company, and at both the Hudson Guild Theatre and Hayworth Theatre in Los Angeles. He holds an MFA in playwriting from Ohio University, and is a current member of the Actors Studio Playwrights and Directors Workshop. He has also worked extensively in the development of both film and television projects, including a film chronicling the life of architect Frank Lloyd Wright, and on the screenplay adaptation of the memoir Woody, Cisco & Me. His original screenplays include My Italy Story, and the pilot episode for the television series Gotham House. He most recently wrote the story Robert Zarinsky for truTV, and the pilot episode for the television series How Did You Meet? Or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying and Love My Significant Other! He wrote and directed two short films, M*O*N*E*Y and No Parking, and also did the screenplay adaptation of the Raymond Carver short story Careful. He studied film at New York University, and currently teaches screenwriting at the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan.

Dana Lynn Formby featured on prestigious ‘Kilroy’ List!

June 30, 2016
by catherineforever666
· Chicago · News

OU Alumni Dana Lynn Formby is once again honored on the Kilroy list! Her play “The Labeler” was one of honorable mentions. This list was a tool created by the all female LA activist group of writers who were looking for ways to promote gender parity in the theater. They said so many gatekeepers were saying there were no good plays by female artists, so they got gate keepers to vote on the most exciting unproduced plays by women. Dana also had a play on the list last year.

Here is a little synopsis of “The Labeler”: Two sisters, one “successful” one “…not so much”, must agree on the best way to lay their mother to rest. One sweet boon is she left them a piece of her in the form of a podcast, downloadable on iTunes. This is a hilarious, heartbreaking, suspenseful play that examines what it means—and what it takes to finally say goodbye.”

The play had development at Chicago Dramatists and was a semi-finalist for the Blue-Ink Prize at American Blues Theater.

Congrats Dana! Hope this place finds a good, friendly home!

About Dana

Dana Lynn Formby is a Resident Playwright at Chicago Dramatists. Her play JOHNNY 10 BEERS’ DAUGHTER was listed on the Kilroys’ Honorable mention list for 2015. Her play AMERICAN BEAUTY SHOP was read at Steppenwolf’s First Look 2014. It was also nominated for Kilroy’s 2014’s “The List.” Her plays have been produced, workshopped, and read by Pegasus, Chicago Dramatists, Mortar Theatre Company, Steep, PICT, Victory Gardens, WordBRIDGE, Florida Studio Theatre, The Alliance Theatre of Atlanta, The Kennedy Center, and New York Theatre Workshop. Her short play A DECK OF MONSTERS was featured in Goodman’s New Play Bake-Off. Her play UNTIL DEATH was produced in 2015 at Concordia University Chicago in association with Chicago Dramatists. She is represented by The Robert A. Freedman Dramatic Agency in New York. She was a Finalist for the 2015 Princess Grace Award in playwriting.

Read Jason Half’s Fascinating article on voice!

May 25, 2016
by catherineforever666
· alumni · Essays · News

Read Jason Half’s short, thoughtful article on the writing process and voice here!

Here is a little excerpt:

Writers might not spend a lot of time considering and defining their individual creative voices, and that’s probably a good thing. As often with the writing process, overthinking and overanalyzing can become a liability. But taking a few minutes to identify your own artistic voice may strengthen your future writing and offer a new perspective on previous work.

On the surface, a creative voice seems like an easy feature to spot. Stephen King’s voice is markedly different from Raymond Chandler’s, and Agatha Christie’s voice would likely not be mistaken by faithful readers with those of P.D. James or Ruth Rendell. Some of the elements defining voice are obvious signifiers, like narrative style or tone or type of story. Algorithms could be built, using word choices and genre structures and character types, which could reliably identify the data-driven aspects of voice. This one must be Charles Dickens. Hello there, Shakespeare.

More about Jason

Jason Half is a graduate of Ohio University’s M.F.A. Playwriting program. His stage plays have had readings in Chicago and Pittsburgh and performances in Maine, Ohio, and Minnesota. He is the recipient of the 2010 Scott McPherson Playwriting Award and, as writer and director, his film THE BALLAD OF FAITH DIVINE won the Best Feature award at 2009’s Colony Film Festival. His one-act play LOCKED ROOM MISERY has received productions at Marietta College and Washington State Community College in southern Ohio. Recently, two television scripts have been finalists in national screenwriting contests. Jason has taught film, theater, scriptwriting, literature and composition courses at colleges in West Virginia and southern Ohio.

Jeremy Sony has new play at Curtain Players this June!

May 16, 2016
by catherineforever666
· News · Productions

OU Alumni Jeremy Sony’s new play Robin Hood and The Secret of Sherwood will be presented at Curtain Players in Ohio, outdoors Thursday-Saturdays June 16-18 and 23-25 in the Alum Creek Park Amphitheatre, West Main Street, Westerville. It is in conjunction with the City of Westerville’s Park and Recreation Department.

Here is a synopsis of the play: Sword fights, secret identities, love, betrayal, and redemption: History and legend collide in this new tale of Robin Hood. When the Brothers Huntingdon lost their parents to the treachery of King Henry of the Plantagenets, their lives took very different paths. One became an outlaw. One became the sheriff. When their paths cross again in Sherwood Forest, they find a Queen fighting for freedom, the King who destroyed their family, and the truth about their connection to the legendary Robin Hood. Their feud puts the very future of England at stake, as one brother puts himself before his kin, while the other discovers that being an outlaw might just be in his blood.

Congrats Jeremy! See it if you’re in the area!!

For more information on the show click here

To access the Facebook event click here

DETAILS/How to see it

Robin Hood & the Secret of Sherwood
Adapted from legend by Jeremy Sony
Directed by Keely Kurtas-Chapman

WHEN: June 16, 17, 18 & 23, 24, 25 @ 7:30 p.m.
WHERE: Alum Creek Park Amphitheater, Westerville, OH

To buy tickets click here

More about Jeremy

Jeremy Sony is a Midwest-based writer and co-founder of Theatre Daedalus. His plays include: Out of the Darkness (Available Light 24 Hour Theatre 2016), The Last Queen of Wonderland (Street Theatre Co., ClassAct Dramatics), The Century Box (World Premiere, Little Theatre Off Broadway), Robin Hood and the Secret of Sherwood (Curtain Players, STC Class Act Dramatics); Sleepy Hollow: The Lost Chapter (STC., ClassAct Dramatics); The View at the End (Available Light 24 Hour Theatre 2014); Parallaxis and Cuckold Walks Into A Bar (MadLab Theatre Roulette 2014); Advice to the Happy Couple (MadLab, Theatre Roulette 2013); and The Cosmonaut in Human Resources (Luna Theatre). Other plays in active development include: Pathogenesis (Reading, Nashville Repertory Theatre) and Frackture (Workshop, TAGS New Play Project). Sony’s plays have also been seen and developed at Penobscot Theater, Curtain Players Theatre, Playhouse Nashville’s Ten Minute Playhouse, Western Michigan University, The Last Frontier Theatre Conference, Ohio University MFA Playwrights Workshop, and the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival. AWARDS & RESIDENCIES: 2013-2014 Ingram New Works Lab Residency (Nashville Repertory Theatre); Scott McPherson Playwriting Award (2012); 2012-2013 Anthony Trisolini Graduate Fellowship; 2010 Heideman Award Finalist (Spin Cycle). FILM: The Last Con (Two Pop Productions); Separation Anxiety (Best Drama, 2012 Riverbend Film Festival; produced by Glass City Films, featuring Emmy-winner John Wesley Shipp and Drama Desk nominee Polly Adams). OTHER WRITING: “Hard Stop” (published by Outskirts Press under the pseudonym Jamie Rotham). Sony holds an M.F.A. in Playwriting from Ohio University and a B.A. in Film & Television from the University of Notre Dame. He has studied under playwrights Charles Smith, Erik Ramsey, Merri Biechler, Mark Pilkinton, Doug Wright, and Kara Lee Corthron. Sony lives in central Ohio with his wife and son, and several cats. When he’s not writing plays or films, Sony is a Web Content Manager. Find him on Facebook, Twitter, and many social media sites under the handle @JeremyWrites.

Qui Nguyen wins Steinberg Critics Prize!

April 11, 2016
by catherineforever666
· alumni · News · Qui Nguyen

OU Alum Qui Nguyen just won the Steinberg Critics prize at the Humana Festival for his play “Vietgone”, which premiered at the Humana and then went to South Coast Rep!

Dc Theatre Scene writes, “Out of six finalists, Nguyen received the award for his play Vietgone, a comedy rooted in his family’s flight from Vietnam that slowly explores the dark corners of its characters. The judging panel, made up of members of the American Theatre Critics Association from across the United States, gave the award to Vietgone for its “vivid, specific voice” along with its “wonderful sense of humor and compelling stakes.”

The Steinberg/ATCA Award honors Nguyen and Vietgone by recognizing him as an outstanding playwright who premiered a play in regional theaters outside of New York City in 2015. But as significantly (and perhaps more so), the Steinberg/ATCA Award is a financial award, and the largest of its kind, granting its winner $25,000.”

Congrats Qui on this awesome honor! Read an article about his big win here

More about Qui

Qui Nguyen is a playwright, TV writer, and Co-Founder of the OBIE Award-winning Vampire Cowboys Theatre Company of NYC. He and his work, known for its innovative use of pop-culture, stage violence, puppetry, and multimedia, has been called “Culturally Savvy Comedy” by The New York Times, “Tour de Force Theatre” by Time Out New York, and “Infectious Fun” by Variety.

Scripts include Vietgone (South Coast Rep, Oregon Shakespeare Company, Manhattan Theatre Club), She Kills Monsters (The Flea, Buzz22 Chicago/Steppenwolf, Company One); War is F**king Awesome (developed in the Sundance Theatre Lab); Krunk Fu Battle Battle (East West Players); Bike Wreck (Ensemble Studio Theatre); Trial By Water (Ma-Yi Theater); Aliens Versus Cheerleaders (Keen Teens); Soul Samurai; The Inexplicable Redemption of Agent G (Ma-Yi Theater & Vampire Cowboys); and the critically acclaimed Vampire Cowboys productions of Alice in Slasherland; Fight Girl Battle World; Men of Steel; and Living Dead in Denmark.