Barbicide Q&A | Doug Sharf

Doug Sharf portrays Ant Knee in Barbicide.

Doug Sharf, who plays Ant Knee and Toby in Barbicide,

sat down with us for a brief Q&A:

What are your characters all about?

"One of my characters, Ant Knee, is plagued with the common problem of beginning a new life after the armed forces with pretty much nothing.  The sailor boy just drifts along until he finds something worth living for: Jo.  Once he meets her, she's what he's all about.  He's not a people person and chasing a peaceful, domestic life with Jo becomes everything.  My other character, Toby, is all about eating and figuring out what happened to his role model, Joey Fanta."

Without giving anything away, What is your favorite moment in Barbicide?

"When Toddesco competes in the Shave Off."

What is the biggest discovery you have made during this production?

"Never go full retard."

 What has been one of your most memorable moments working on this piece?

"This dates back to when we started the reading series at the Moustache Tonsorial--the barber shop in the Village.  The first reading packed the place.  It was hot, there was alcohol and we had no idea how the play would be received. But it got a really strong response.  As we read through the play that night, I remember beginning to trust the words more and more because of the connection they were forming with everyone."

What is your favorite drink?

"It was Tanq+Tonic but I'm starting to just drink whiskey on the rocks. And always Guinness."

What is your favorite food?

"Pizza. From the $1 slices to the places that won't even serve just slices."

What is your current obsession?

"Writing a good script."

If you could give up one of your vices, what would it be?

"Envy, definitely. It's ugly and indicative of inner turmoil." 

What is one thing you waste too much money on?

"Food. I need to do more grocery shopping."

What is one activity you waste too much time doing?

"Fantasy Football research and watching football."

What in the world most thrills you?

"The world. Mostly travelling it. Seeing things that most other people don't get to see. Doing the more secretive stuff that the locals are into, not the tourist traps."

What is your personal motto?

"Well, my quote in my senior yearbook was from Ferris Bueller's Day Off, it was 'Life moves pretty fast.  If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.'  I think that still applies.  It's either that or 'Never eat airport Chinese food before a flight to Puerto Rico.'"

Barbicide Q&A | Angie Atkinson

Angie Atkinson portrays Jo in Barbicide

Angie Atkinson, of Barbicide, sat down with The Theatre Project for a brief Q&A:

What’s your character all about?

"I love Jo.  She's this sort of sad and tough girl who's disabled but doesn't really think about it, isolated but hopeful, sheltered but wise, and adorably boy crazy.  And I love that her best friends are pigeons."

  

 Without giving anything away, What is your favorite moment in Barbicide? 

"It's hard to pick favorites, but I gotta say that I'm a huge fan of the opening scene.  It sets the tone of the play so beautifully, and I love the imagery."  

What is the biggest discovery you have made during this production? 

"I used to act a lot more often, but I switched my focus to music about a year and a half ago.  I'm loving the musician's life, but doing this piece has reminded me of how much I love acting and how much I miss doing it."  

What has been one of your most memorable moments working on this piece? 

"Christian giving Doug tips on how to be tender with women was pretty memorable."  

What is your favorite drink? 

"Ginger ale.  It's true."

What is your favorite food?

"Oh, it's like asking me to pick my favorite child!  I suppose I could probably eat tacos every day.  But, like, the delicious & fresh kind in the soft corn tortillas with the cilantro and the onions and all that.  Tacos al pastor are my favorite.  Mmmmm."

What is your current obsession? 

"I just got an Apple TV and have been streaming Magnum P.I. on NetFlix, and it is EVERYTHING.  I also kind of hope that when I die I come back as one of Adam Levine's tattoos."

If you could give up one of your vices, what would it be?  

"Eating my feelings.  It happens."

What is one thing you waste too much money on? 

"Definitely food.  I'm a starving artist so I'm pretty frugal about most things, but I'm a sucker for delicious takeout."  

What is one activity you waste too much time doing?  

"Doubting myself, 'cause any time spent doing that is wasted."  

What in the world most thrills you? 

"Music.  And meeting and connecting with other human beings, especially the ones of the cute boy variety."

 What is your personal motto? 

I often say to myself, 'One day at a time, sweet Jesus.'  And then of course, there's 'Be a strong black woman,' which is the best advice I ever got.  

Barbicide Q&A | Arthur Aulisi

Arthur Aulisi portrays Toddesco in Barbicide

Arthur Aulisi, of Barbicide, sat down with The Theatre Project for a brief Q&A:

What are your characters all about?

"Each character I play is obsessed with something.  Todesco is blinded by his need for revenge.  The Judge is obsessed with power (and his step daughter).  Porello is obsessed with fame and success.  and The Gooch...well, I imagine The Gooch is obsessed with food."

Without giving anything away, What is your favorite moment in Barbicide?

"There are many moments throughout, each vastly different, that I love for different reasons.  But I think the hat latze at the World's Fair will be a lot of fun."

What is the biggest discovery you have made during this production? 

"Of the process, I've learned that doing a two person scene by yourself is tricky.  Of the play, that we don't always know what will make us happy."

What has been one of your most memorable moments working on this piece?

"Developmental readings at the Moustache Tonsorial were a blast, with passersby stopping and watching from outside the window.  But pleasantly surprising was how the play worked on two levels in particular.  Given how well know the source material is, it was fun to hear the listeners react to a character or a plot point they recognized.  Even better was to hear the listeners taken by surprise by the play, despite familiarity with the source material." 

What is your favorite drink?

"My favorite drink?  Coffee is up there.  It used to be bourbon.  My dear friend and local bartender (independent of each other) once made up a vodka drink for me while I was rehearsing Uncle Vanya.  She named it "the Astrov" and, as far as fancy cocktails go, it was pretty damn good." 

What is your favorite food?

"Favorite food?  Me and Garfield.  Lasagna." 

What is your current obsession?

"Current obsession?  Love it or List it on HGTV." 

What is one thing you waste too much money on?

"I spend way too much money on dining out.  It does offer me fundamental nutrition as well so it's not a complete waste of money.  But there's not a whole lot to show for it.  Except maybe a fat ass." 

What is one activity you waste too much time doing?

"I watch way too much television.  See the above answer to the current obsession question." 

What in the world most thrills you?

"This is going to sound corny and cliche but it really does thrill me to make people laugh or to move them or to make them think.  We should all do more of that throughout our daily lives.  Theater just happens to be a tool that I employ toward that end.  Second to all of that, scuba diving." 

What is your personal motto?

"I don't think I have a personal motto, certainly not one single one.  There's a lot of good ones that friends share on Facebook.  Take the 10 most contradictory ones of those, blend, and that will be my motto." 

The Playwright's Pad: The Origin of Barbicide

I’ve been told that I’m dark. Frequently, actually. Most recently by my ten-year old daughter, over breakfast. And, in a great many of my plays, that darkness pervades, but it is often accompanied by some degree of violence. Stop, don’t ask why. I myself don’t know. It just does. In fact, I’ve even been passed over at certain festivals (the names of which I won’t disclose) for being too violent. So, you can imagine my excitement when I awoke with a start on my daily train ride with an idea for a way to adapt into a play, of all things, a well known, and beloved, musical. You know, orchestra, dancing, kicking, singing—in short, everything I despise about theatre. Well, not everything, but most everything. 

How great would it be to expose my work to a whole new set of theatergoers who might normally look the other way when a play of mine was being staged. Immediately, fearing the loss of cell signal that an approaching tunnel would bring, I texted Christian Amato, artistic director of The Theatre Project and detailed my idea. Christian was at the time knee deep in not only a reading series of a collection of my work (titled Universal Monsters), but a full blown, balls-to-the-walls staging of my play Bitch.

Over the months of development, Christian had become somewhat of the ideal collaborator for a playwright. He’d always listen to even half-baked ideas, listen some more, provide perspective, and then step back. Never one to stifle a good concept, however unpopular, Christian knows just what to say to find a way to steer something to the stage—even if that something might be a little too dark for mass audience consumption (read: taking on a play about dog fighting). Later that day we discussed the piece I dreamt up on the train while an actor read a rather lengthy monologue I had originally staged at Manhattan Repertory Theatre the previous Spring. After the piece was read, Christian leaned in and asked if I’d ever considered writing a full-length monologue. 

Now, the monologue is something that, for good or for bad, has made frequent appearances in my plays over the years, but it is normally the kind of conceit that actors shrink from and directors scratch their heads over.  It is often difficult to perform (particularly with my language) and even more daunting a task to stage in any compelling way. So, needless to say, the question took me aback. I had, however, always yearned to write a full-length monologue, but with multiple voices—a stereologue, if you will. The one I’d been toying with incorporated direct audience address, but also included such diverse elements as beat poetry, terse, hard boiled language and tenses that shifted from past to present. What’s more, I wanted all attention to be directed to the language itself—in fact, in order to focus on the words, in this piece, I’d ask that a small handful of actors impersonate scores of other characters. For me, this would be an experiment in pure storytelling. 

So, upon Christian’s question concerning the monologue, a light bulb went off. Why not apply this unique form of storytelling to this musical adaptation that sparked my imagination on the train. This was how Barbicide was born—my meditation on coincidence and fate. Or, if you’d prefer, my very loose, potty-mouthed, deconstructed adaptation, or parody, of the musical Sweeney Todd.  

At last, a lighter, more accessible play for the masses… a story about, among many of things, a serial killer barber and cannibalism.

-Sean

From The Director's Notebook v.4

Friday, February 10

11:30 AM

My apologies for being unable to post in the last few months, but my production schedule has been pretty hectic. Having been totally invested in B*tch, I did not have the opportunity to post as frequently as I would have liked. I imagine that those are the benefits to Twitter and Facebook. You don't have to write a lot—an update will suffice.

Currently I am working on a very cool production of Alice In Wonderland. The production is Off-Broadway at The Historic Players Theatre, and features a newly interpreted script and score by writing team Sgouros and Bell. This is the world premiere production of the musical, which features an all percussion score!

I have been fortunate to be collaborating with a large amount of artists lately, an experience which is crucial for all young directors. On Alice, I have been working with the composer and the librettist whom are both extremely keen on input and involvement. The same goes with my other collaborator, Sean Pomposello. Sean wrote B*tch and together we have been developing a new play entitled Barbicide, a noirish reflection of the Sweeny Todd myth set in 1960s Queens. To learn more about Barbicide, watch the talk balk between Sean and I.

The key to a collaboration is the level of involvement. A director should never make a bottom line. When collaborating, it is our job to guide the piece into the best possible production.

In theatre, there are a lot of opportunities to collaborate. You collaborate with actors, technicians and designers amongst others. Recently I have been able to collaborate with businesses, corporations and product lines as well.

As a director, the relationships built are equally as important in conjunction to the plays you develop. While it sounds like something you may hear in theatre school, it is a highly valuable piece of advice. It may be difficult at the outset to find collaborators you see eye to eye with, but then again not all relationships need to be on the same page in order to thrive. I am lucky to be involved with artists who share similar values as my own.

Creatives are out there, in all fields, seeking people to partner with and develop great work. Theatre allows for a fusion of many cultures and relationships. For me, I enjoy developing work with a group of people in highly varying worlds. The end result is magnificent for an audience.

Keep an eye out for future (and more frequent) posts and be sure to check out our new blog series, The Playwrights Pad.

-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.

Check out the B*tch Commercial

You have got to check out out B*tch promo video!

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

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.

from the director's notebook v.1

August 15, 11:40 AM

As I sit on the two train en route to meet up with Sean, the playwright I am fortunate enough to be working with this fall, I cannot help but be nervous. Despite having met a couple of times in person and sharing a regular dialogue through email, today fills my stomach with excitement as my nerves jump like a student at his first day of classes.

Today I will be filming an interview with Sean where I will be asking him questions to learn more about his play Bitch and his play series, Universal Monsters. This is the first time I've had the opportunity to work with a modern playwright and actually speak to him one on one. What has been fascinating is the way I can read his word and then be able to question him about it.

Sean Pomposello's writing intrigues me in the simple fact that it combines New York's grit with a cinematic movement and a conversational thread. It reads very naturally, and with auditions fast approaching and the summer coming to a close, I look forward to being able to getting inside his mind. 

Email interaction can only go so far, but to truly understand the play, I must truly understand Sean. This video interview should do the trick! As I prepared the questions, I thought of how a character in Bitch might ask them. I wanted to avoid a "Inside The Actor's Studio" format because frankly I felt it would be perceived as too lofty. That would have been the opposite of what I am trying to achieve. I want to keep The Theatre Project accessible, and as a young company, I believe that is what makes us relatable.

I can't help but imagine that the characters in Bitch all have ridden this train before. The play is set in my town, which is not initially attracted me to the script, but certainly made me consider it. As I look around I can see people who remind me of the characters. Real people on their grind—which is what makes the characters unique. It doesn't glorify or enlarge a situation. Bitch exposes real people doing what they have to, no matter how corrupt, in order to survive

August 15, 8:05 PM 

After I emerged from the Penn station subway stop, I met with Sean and we hopped back on a train heading towards the West Village. As we got off the Christopher Street/Sheridan Square stop, and walked over towards The Players Theatre, I felt a sense of gratitude in the fact that such a great playwright would be willing to place such faith in my hands. We went over to one of the best coffee shops in the area, Pubblico Espresso, a favorite haunt of mine.

Pubblico is right across the street from the theatre and delicious. Over iced coffee we discussed marketing, scenic design, and most importantly—the show itself. After posing many questions on the script, I was thrilled to have been able to pick up on and relate to aspects of the script that may lie more dormant in the dialogue. Facets of the plot that are there, but not spelled out. It's refreshing to know you are on the right track, especially with such a contemporary work. After coffee and small talk, we went to the theatre and I conducted my interview with Sean. We filmed at the Players Theatre which I felt was appropriate since it will shortly become a "home base" for The Theatre Project. It was a noisy day on MacDougal Street and the noise of the day served as the underscore to our interview, which went extremely well and was an eye-opening experience. By learning more about the playwright, I have learned more about the script itself. I highly recommend doing something like this, be it in person or through email in order to fully understand a project you may delve into. It particularly helps if the playwright you are working with happens to be alive. I would not be able to have done the same with say, a Chekhov play. Unless, that is, you happen to be able to channel the dead.

I also was able to show Sean the space where Universal Monsters and Bitch will be staged. There was something exciting about standing in the theatre with Sean and talking about the show. Mostly it was inspiration, the rest was probably fear that he may say something along the lines of "Look at this shit hole," but he was actually pretty psyched!

Overall, it was a great day for me as a director, and a great day for Sean and I as artists, as we step further into this venture. I'll wrap it up there since this is a blog post and it's becoming a novella. I look forward to my next blog post as well as newer developments in the project.

- Christian Amato



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.