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 | Paulette Oliva

Paulette Oliva portrays Ms. Lionetti in Barbicide

Paulette Oliva, who plays Ms. Lionetti and the Beggar Woman in Barbicide, 

sat down with us for a brief Q&A:

What is your character all about? 

“Mrs. Lionetti, is teetering on the verge of being an "old maid" - or more appropriately in Italian -"zitella".  From a very young age - she was either babysitting for her "slow" younger brother, or working alongside her parents at their restaurant. Never married, and plodding through her dull and hapless life, she survives by operating a pizza parlor -  controlled primarily by the mob.  She escapes from her troubles at the movies, or with soap operas.  Her social life consists of driving distant aging relatives to the beauty salon.  Alone in the world, and resigned to her lot in life - things begin to spice up a bit, when a mysterious stranger enters her pizza shop.  Desparate for companionship, she concocts a storied version of past events to suit her situation.  Things begin to unravel quickly....”

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

“The shave-off!”

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

“With limited space, and functional props only - I am amazed how this play truly relies on the actors' ability to breathe life into every moment of this piece - to the point where an audience will not feel the least bit "under-served" in terms of production values - quite the opposite...the words seem richer, the moments are more profound, and the audience is more engaged.  The magic of theatre - period.”

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

“I have a feeling it is yet to come.... because every time I think a moment is memorable, it gets trumped by the NEXT memorable moment.... it's about the process for me, the journey....and the collection of many memorable moments.”

What is your favorite drink? 

“Grey Goose Vodka...on the rocks, no fruit, olives, or other distractions.......”

What is your favorite food? 

“Potato Chips (is that a food group?)”

What is your current obsession? 

“Driving with the top down.  Um, that would be my CAR top down.”

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

“I don't smoke or gamble - and Vodka's not a vice, YET.  Did I mention Potato Chips??”

What is one thing you waste too much money on? 

“Coffee at Dunkin.”

What is one activity you waste too much time doing? 

“I get lost in Tumblr and Pinterest.........”

What in the world most thrills you? 

“Singing "Rose's Turn" to a sold out audience.”

What is your personal motto?  

“Don't wait - do it now - life is too short.”

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." 

Tales from the Barber Shop | Interview 1

You may be familiar with some of our behind-the-scenes, rogue styled, interviews.
Well today, we launch a whole new series of interviews, this time, with the cast of
Barbicide!

Tales from the Barber Shop offers weekly cast interviews, following the development of Barbicide!
Shot in the barber chairs of Moustache Greenwich Tonsorial, join us each week for a brief sneak-peek into the developing world of Sean Pomposello's new play!

Today's interview features Arthur Aulisi, who plays Toddesco & The Judge.

What's the Big Deal: Site-Specific Theatre

Click HERE to watch the Barbicide live-stream!

What's The Big Deal: 

Site-Specific Theatre 

 

4.30.12     3:00PM

Last week, I opened up a conversation on #2AMt asking, “What is it about site-specific theatre that people love so much?” I received a few responses:

“Good question. I prefer fantastic sets w/ my thtr.”

@MichaelSeel

“Site-specific is the antidote to the cookie-cutter black box. 

A space that is very definitively one thing.”

@playwrightsteve

“In the #foreplayplay case, people seem to love the hyper-realness 

of it, how they forget it’s a play.”

@MariahMacCarthy

On April 20^th we held a reading of Sean Pomposello’s newest play, Barbicide, at Moustache Tonsorial. Moustache is a small, vintage-inspired barbershop in Greenwich Village. You may remember that Barbicide is an adaptation of the Sweeney Todd/String of Pearls legend. The audience turnout and reaction to the reading was an extreme positive. This lead me to wonder how large a role the site-specific aspect of the reading played into the overall reception of the piece.

On various levels I agree with @MichaelSeel, @Playwrightsteve and @MariahMacCarthy. Typically with a production I do tend to lean towards a great scenic design. This mostly affects me during an actual staging as opposed to a reading, but I am a fan of a fantastic set. From what I have realized, it can be more affordable (especially in Manhattan) to use a site-specific venue as opposed to a theatre space. In which case, I agree with @Playwrightsteve that site-specific theatre is a solution to the more “generic” black-box productions that are staged. The hyper-reality of being location specific does intrigue an audience. For some reason, there is a level of truth that supports or validates the theatre piece.

As I watched the audience hang out in the barbershop awaiting the start of the reading, many asked “Why choose a barbershop?” To be honest, we really just wanted to establish a fun environment for our audience to interact and enjoy a new piece of theatre. Instead of  over-thinking an idea, our “plan” was established from a much more simple point of view: “Sweeney Todd/Barbicide is about a barber | Barbicide is used in barbershops | Let’s do this reading in a barbershop!”

Sometimes, the more casual the event, the more educational it can become. As we used Moustache to learn about the play and how it can be received, my mind began turning with ideas. This is my number one reason to produce readings, it allows the creative team an opportunity to hear the words. I began to notice the parallel between an old-fashioned barbershop quartet and our four performers. I quickly realized the possibility of Barbicide being a play exclusively performed in Manhattan barbershops.

It turns out that site-specific theatre can also be a positive for the location you select. Moustache Tonsorial is positioned on a busy corner of Greenwich Avenue and is surrounded by large picture windows. Not only did a decent amount of audience members watch from the outside, but the reading provoked numerous people passing by to go in the next day for a haircut!

I’m excited to announce that Moustache Tonsorial and The Theatre Project work very well together, because we have been invited to perform Barbicide on a bi-monthly basis. As we continue developing Barbicide, Moustache will become our home-base. I am looking forward to using the barbershop to further identify aspects of the production that are yet to be realized.

Perhaps site-specific theatre serves a greater purpose in building an audience and buzz for a production, prior to bringing it to the stage. In any event, the goal is to continue  providing an entertaining evening of contemporary theatre to those who appreciate it. Maintaining a transparent developmental process also allows our audience to return and recognize any modifications made to the script.

I hope to see you at our next reading of Barbicide on May 9 at 8:30 PM at Moustache Tonsorial. It’s a new twist on Fleet street!

-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.

Simply Intricate: Oral Tradition in Theatre

Staged Readings

Simply Intricate: Oral Tradition in Theatre

4. 16. 2012, 2:30 PM

As you may or may not know, we have been spending quite a bit of time developing our newest production, Barbicide by Sean Pomposello. We had originally work-shopped an early portion of the script in the fall, as part of our reading series, Universal Monsters. After an overwhelming response from our audience members, I began to see a great potential in a script that had otherwise been an intriguing concept, (See, The Playwright’s Pad: The Origin of Barbicide.) Shortly after, what was read at Universal Monsters ended up becoming the first three scenes of Sean Pomposello’s newest play! After lengthy conversations about the play itself, changes to dialogue and characters, as well as modifying concepts that would maintain a cohesive quality to the piece as a whole, we finally reached a rest stop. I wanted to give Barbicide the opportunity to truly evolve, so as the script was completed, we decided to present a developmental reading of the finished product. We began rehearsals last week for our reading of Barbicide, equipped with a great cast and a fantastic script. With a reading, there are a variety of options to present a piece of theatre. Beginning this process made me wonder, is there a proper way to direct a reading?

One of the most attractive qualities of a reading is the simplistic nature of the event as a whole. “Hey, here’s a reading. It’s free. Come see it,” is the essential structure of advertising your typical reading. When you are in a space, all it calls for are a few chairs and music stands, then you are set.  I have been to readings that play up and play down the event. Some readings I have been to can seem uptight and others too lax. How do you find the happy medium? Does the environment of the reading affect the piece itself? I do not believe there is one specific way to curate a reading, and granted, the mood and environment certainly will be compared to the play itself. The point is that these “simple” readings are an opportunity for like-minded people to gather, discuss and participate in a play in order to contribute towards it’s growth.

While the event itself can be presented simply or intricately, what about the direction of the piece? The ultimate goal is to tell a story. At a reading, there is typically very little stage direction. If you are operating under equity guidelines, actors cannot be using props or costumes. When I direct a reading I rely on three factors: 

-An Actor’s Instincts: In a reading, the actors have to rely on each other. There     are no light cues or staging for them to involve in their existence in the moment. Ultimately the actors must be storytellers. 

-Vocal Attention: The most crucial element in directing a reading is the unique and interesting ways you can guide a story by playing with vocalizations. With the actors unable to fall back on scenery and staging to add additional conflict or intent to a scene, they must resort to vocal variation. This keeps the audience involved while appropriately serving as a storyteller. 

-Audience Involvement: While you cannot rely on an audience to interact, you hope they do. If you have a good theatre piece on your hands, the audience will typically participate. This doesn’t mean inviting them to read, though you could if you like. An attentive and vocal audience is always appreciated at a reading. You get a sense of how people enjoy the piece as well as moments of the play that are simply not landing where you expected.

Really, readings are a prime example of oral tradition. Every culture throughout the ages has told stories to an audience. Novelist, Edwards Price once wrote, “A need to tell and hear stories is essential to the species.” Everybody tells stories. Everybody includes their own influence towards a story. That is what gives a story life. As it travels from person-to-person and mouth-to-mouth, it naturally undergoes changes that are essential in it’s growth and complexity. 

Like most art forms, it is subjective to consider one proper way of holding a play reading. We should, however, be promoting and holding many more readings. We are responsible for carrying on the oral tradition. Through readings, we become a part of an age old custom.

With that said, you may join The Theatre Project as we continue our commitment to the spoken word. Friday April 20^th, I invite you to attend our developmental reading of Barbicide. The reading will be held at Moustache Tonsorial on 55 Greenwich Avenue. I look forward to seeing you there.

-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.