The House of Ash

I have several exciting events coming up which are listed below including performing with ZehlSteen Think Pound at the UCB theatre tonight, directing a solo performance at Theatre for the New City, which is part of the Lower East Side's Art Festival on Saturday, May 24th, 2008 and Co-Op Theatre East's Summer Reading Series, beginning in June. I definitely hope to see you at some of the performances!

My sketch comedy group, ZehlSteen Think Pound's Upright Citizen's Brigade show is today... Monday, May 19th at 6:30. This is a very important show, as we're competing for a regular spot at the UCB. The location of the show is:

Upright Citizen's Brigade Theatre306 W 26th St between 8th and 9th Aves.

Renowned sketch comedy group Murderfist will also be performing. Only $5 for two very nice groups.
Again, reserve tickets here:
http://newyork.ucbtheatre.com/reservations/create/11870
ZehlSteen Think Pound on the web: www.myspace.com/zehlsteenthinkpound

I am directing performance artist Katherine Adamenko (http://www.ladypants.com/) in a short piece from a new play called "Halma and Raina" by Issak Esmail Issak . The play was produced in Iran last year (an incredible story) and has had productions in other countries outside of the US (Norway and Canada). We're hoping to get it picked up in NYC. Please feel free to stop by and check it out.
We go up at 10:00 pm ... the details and location is below...
Theater for the New City
155 First Avenue (between 9th and 10th Streets)
New York, NY 10003
Telephone: (212) 254-1109
Fax: (212) 979-6570
http://www.theaterforthenewcity.net/les.htm

L.E.S.THE 13TH ANNUAL LOWER EAST SIDE FESTIVAL OF THE ARTS
Friday, May 23rd, 6pm - 1am
Saturday, May 24th, 10am - 1am
10am - 6pm - OUTSIDE ON E. 10th STREET - Cultural Fair, Performances, Food, Vendors!2pm - 5pm - INSIDE - Performances for Kids and by KidsSunday,
May 25th, 6pm - 1am
FREE!!! FREE!!! FREE!!!

Co-Op Theatre East News...

Beginning June 2, we're going to be reading plays on Monday nights @ 7 p.m. in Washington Square Park. Not "performing" for the public, per se, but getting folks together, maybe throwing a frisbee around a bit, reading together, then maybe grabbing a beer afterward. We're going to start with The Trojan Women on June 2; on June 9, we'll be reading Waiting for Lefty. Come join us! We're hosting a festival of new short works!!! We are currently accepting unpublished, un-produced plays, up to 15 minutes in length with small casts (that fit the mission statement!); 4 or 5 will be produced in September.

If you'd like to submit, send your work to cooptheatreeast@gmail.com .

Our company:
...is called Co-Op Theatre East, and we operate from New York City.

Our mission statement:
The Co-Op Theatre East believes in the power of art to foster a dialogue for social change. We provide an entertaining performance forum in which to ask evocative, challenging questions of artists and audiences on our way to creating collaborative answers.

For more information on Co-Op Theatre East, e-mail cooptheatreeast@gmail.com

I have a callback tomorrow for the National Children's Theatre tour tomorrow. Looking forward. I recently have had my 4th callback for Mrs. Lascalzo in "The Awesome 80's Prom" Off Broadway. Lot's of callbacks... hoping to book something soon!

I can't stress enough how thrilled I am to be involved in the Hemispheric Institute's EMERGENYC 2008 (http://hemisphericinstitute.org/emergenyc/) . In just 3 meetings, I've really felt myself stretching as an artist and performer. It's also given me a rich foundation to work from for my next directing projects. We've been working on a lot of Boal technique with George Sanchez and have had some fantastic workshops with Guillermo Gomez-Pena and Patricia Hoffbauer. I'm looking forward to working with Reverend Billy at the end of the month, among others. The other artists in the group are insanely talented and dynamic. I can't wait to see how the final performance is going to turn out in November, especially since the work thus far has been fantastic.

I know that I will be continuing the solo performance piece I started working on with Karen Finley this semester called "What to do In case You Miss the Rapture (... and other apocalyptic tales)". It started out as a response to my experiences within the Evangelical community and looking specifically at the beliefs in "end times" and eschatology... all of those fine topics. It actually was inspired by a pamphlet that a church group handed me in Times Square last summer called "What to Do In case You Miss the Rapture"... it's a bizarre little pamphlet complete with drawings and inscriptions ... and I knew it would make a fabulous theatre piece in the future, so there. The topic has broadened since last summer though to include testimony from people of many religious orientations. Currently, it's a response to our culture's dooms day obsession. I've edited several interviews (enough to have about 15 minutes worth of material) but I have an outline and will continue working on it this summer and have it done (or at least have a workshop ready script) by the time EMERGENYC is finished.

I'm currently directing a short piece in a theatre festival at Theatre for a New City coming up on Memorial Day Weekend. This is actually a very exciting collaboration. I will be directing performance artist Katherine Adamenko (http://www.ladypants.com/) in a short piece from a new play called "Halma and Raina" by Issak Esmail Issak . The play was produced in Iran last year (an incredible story) and has had productions in other countries outside of the US (Norway and Canada, I believe). We're hoping to get it picked up in NYC. Katherine is a founding member of a new feminist performance artist group called Estrogen Radical Artists (ERA) (http://www.myspace.com/EstrogenRadicalArtists) which I can't wait to see get itself off the ground.... definitely a much needed initiative.

I saw a great show last night at the Women's Project (http://www.womensproject.org/07-08_season.htm) called CroOked by Catherine Trieschmann and directed by Liz Diamond. It was absolutely beautiful and moving (my kind of play). Trieschmann tackles some heavy issues, very realistically and poignantly. I highly recommend it. As soon as Co-Op Theatre East has enough money to buy rights (pretty soon! hehe) this is a show that I NEED to direct. It's a "coming of age" story with some very contemporary twists. I'm pretty sure this is its last week. Anyway, be on the lookout for future productions. The cast was great too!

Oh, and I'm now *officially* a "Master of Performance Studies" ... so, if you ever find yourself in a situation where you may need a "Master of Performance Studies", you know where to find her.

One of my colleagues and closest pals, Robby and I have started a theatre company. We know it's going to be a lot of hard work to get it on its feet but we're ready to commit to it. The company is called Co-Op Theatre East and our mission statement is to create art that fosters dialogue to create social change. We provide an entertaining performance forum in which to ask evocative, challenging questions of artists and audiences on our way to creating collaborative answers. Below is our first call for short plays, which will be performing at The Tank in September. We're taking submissions from playwrights both nationally and internationally. Below is our call. We should have our logo finished soon and our myspace page/facebook group ready to go in a few weeks.

Co-Op Theatre East (COTE) is seeking new, unpublished works for its upcoming short play festival scheduled for Fall 2008.

All submissions should:

- require small casts;
- be no more than 15 minutes in length; and,
- fit the company's mission statement: The Co-Op Theatre East believes in the power of art to foster a dialogue for social change. We provide an entertaining performance forum in which to ask evocative, challenging questions of artists and audiences on our way to creating collaborative answers.

Four to five pieces will be selected for production as part of COTE's first short-play festival, tentatively scheduled for September 2008. We look forward to working collaboratively with participating playwrights as we develop these productions; however, as the festival is being staged as a fundraiser for Co-Op Theatre East, we cannot offer compensation to playwrights.

To submit, please send a copy of the script, along with your contact information and résumé, to cooptheatreeast@gmail.com. Deadline for submissions is June 1, 2008.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Artistic Directors Ashley Marinaccio and Robert Gonyo via e-mail: cooptheatreeast@gmail.com. Additionally, please feel free to share this e-mail with friends and collaborators!

Thanks in advance, and we look forward to hearing from you!

Please come and cheer ZSTP on at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre on May 19th, as we audition for a regular show at the UCB theatre. This is a huge opportunity for us and we'd be thrilled to have all of our friends and supporters there.



Zehl Steen Think Pound in "SPANK!" at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre

Date: Monday, May 19, 2008
Time: 6:30pm - 8:30pm
Location: Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre
Street: 307 W. 26th St
City/Town: New York, NY

Phone: 212-366-9176
zstp45@gmail.com





Become a friend of Zehl Steen Think Pound on MYSPACE ... http://www.myspace.com/zehlsteenthinkpound
Some of our past sketches...

http://youtube.com/watch?v=sSu-tfr-mOk - A Really Great Job!
http://http//youtube.com/watch?v=Wc3UrToN2uI&feature=related - Healthy Products!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IF86yJK9fpI&feature=related - Hipster World!
http://youtube.com/watch?v=_boTGZKqN-o&feature=related - French Tourism Commercial!