Universal Monsters Lineup!

Universal Monsters is a collection of 11 of Sean Pomposello's written work. The Theatre Project will be presenting these plays in a series of readings throughout the months of November and December. Revolving around the concept of "Man's inhumanity to man," the Universal Monsters Series offers a brazen look at the aggressive side of humanity in the 21st Century. Here is the complete series lineup!


November 3                                Bitch


November 17                             Unlimited Nights
                                                  Dark Future
                                                  The Walkaway
                                                  To Hell with Darwin
                                                  The Dog House
                                                  Daddy's Little Girl


December 1                              IT
                                                 Plus One


December 15                           Turnpike South
                                                 Barbicide




We look forward to seeing you at these 5 Free play readings.


@ The Players Theatre
115 MacDougal Street
New York, NY 10012


Plus!


Check out our Universal Monsters key art, and an interview with writer Sean Pomposello about the plays!

 

                                                  

Announcing our Cast!

We're very excited to share with all our followers our casting decisions! We have cast 5 actors to appear in both Universal Monsters and Bitch. These performers will be delving into 10 of Sean Pomposello's plays this fall and winter! They are a mighty talented bunch and we are proud to have them on board for this project! And here they are:

Michael Neithardt as Junie

Benjamin Weaver as Mitts

Brian Cheng as Davy Dollar$

Gina LeMoine as Gil

Arthur Aulisi as Uncle Knee Co

Universal Monsters: Part 2 with Sean Pomposello

Universal Monsters: Part 1 with Sean Pomposello

from the director's notebook v.3

9. 12. 11                      9:48 pm

Today were auditions for Bitch and Universal Monsters. There is always a slight nervous feeling that hits me whenever I hold an audition. I guess I tend to worry that what and who I'm looking for may not show up. However, one thing I believe in is, you don't have to worry about that in New York. There will always be one or in most cases, many people who can fill the roles you are looking to fill. With so many performers in the city it becomes much easier to cast a show. 

At my last audition, for 4.48 Psychosis, I bumped into Tim Gunn. Let me rephrase that. At my last audition, Tim Gunn bumped into me! It was outside of Parsons on my way to Ripley-Grier. And as he accidentally tried to walk through me he said, "Oh! Love that chartreuse!" I know, very exciting. He was referring to the color of my polo. A compliment from Tim Gunn on your fashion choice is like having Bobby Flay tell you, you make wonderful grilled chicken, so I knew that my auditions were sure to go well! Needless to say, I didn't bump into Tim this time around. But I did walk past a poster of him on my way to the theatre that read "Make it work" so I took that as some sort of a sign that things would go well. 

There was a great audition turnout and we had a great mix of performers. I wanted to see actors with both film and theatre experience because Sean's language lends itself to a more cinematic approach. It has made my decision very hard because I had so many talented men and women come through. Casting is a decision I am going to have to think carefully about. How the actors look together plays an equal role as to how talented they all are. Luckily I have a few combinations so I'll certainly have to come to a good decision. 

Outside of auditions, I've been busy working on scenic and design sketches to get ahead of the game. I tend to be a perennial planner and constantly push to be ahead of my own schedule. This can be both a great relief to Keri Anne; the Executive Director of our company because it makes her world 300 times easier, but it also can become a bad thing. Especially when I start to second guess the decisions I have made and start to tweak them, specifically for the fact that I have time on my side. 

With that said, I believe that I have finally touched upon my final design choices for the Universal Monsters series key art, as well as the scenic sketch for Bitch. The key art for Bitch still needs development, yet I would like to share some of the ideas that have influenced the execution of the current scope of work.

For Universal Monsters, Sean Pomposello and I wanted to create an aesthetic that heavily correlated with the themes in his pieces while intriguing a theatre goer in an abstract way. Sean's work heavily focuses on "man's inhumanity to man" and we wanted to create a visual conceit that pushed that theme. His plays tend to focus on people who wear "masks." Figuratively speaking, characters whose presence is cloaked in some sense. With that in mind, we went for this image as our final look.

A young girl, wearing a gas mask with her Teddy bear following suit. It calls towards the idea that a monstrous human being can appear to be very much the opposite. 

For the set, this sketch is what I have been seeing lately, so I'm eager to perfect it. 

The play takes place in a cramped, Bronx chop shop. I wanted to create depth and lines in the design. The aerial piping and wainscoting help to set the tone of the place. This also has lead me to create interesting ideas for the "dog's blocking." I won't divulge all just now. 

As for the key art for Bitch, here are a few ideas. I'm having trouble realizing this but I love the photo Kelly Marsh has taken. It speaks towards animal cruelty, the greasy aspect of the chop shop. But what I like is how the wrench is evocative of a dog bone. I'm sure I am close on this one!

I think that's it for now. This is what happens when I write my blog posts on the subway, I end up writing short stories. I hope somebody finds them insightful. Who knows, maybe Tim Gunn does. After all, I am starting to believe that he may be my  audition fairy godmother!

-Christian

The director's notebook is a blog Christian Amato started through theatre projected in order to allow people to see how a younger director approaches his work.

Part 3 of 3/Mini-Interview with Sean Pomposello on Bitch

Part 3 of 3 with Sean Pomposello on Bitch. Stay tuned for our next video spotlight on Sean's 

Universal Monsters series.

Interview 2 of 3 w/ Sean Pomposello on "Bitch"