People of the Year 2008

Gyda Arber: As the new outreach coordinator for the Brick Theatre and as an actor in several productions there throughout the year, Gyda Arber made a big difference to the Williamsburg cultural scene on and offstage. Her innovative "iPod noir" Suspicious Package capped an exceptional year for this versatile young artist. In the photo is Gyda in a scene from Babylon Babylon. She has already started work on a new version of Suspicious Package, in time for the Brick's 2009 Summer Fest. Gyda will also be appearing in an upcoming episode of the Penny Dreadful serial. And she plans to continue acting and directing!

Follow these links to learn more:
Review of Babylon Babylon
Review of Suspicious Package
Review of Q&A
Gyda Arber's official website
Suspicious Package official website

Robert Attenweiler: Possessing one of the most distinctive and poetic voices among American dramatists of his generation, he had four plays produced in 2008, including Torrents, All the Shifty Villains, Kansas City or Along the Way, and Tex and the King. Robert Attenweiler is also artistic director of Disgraced Productions. Shown in the photo are Adam Groves and Rebecca Benhayon in a scene from Kansas City or Along the Way. In Spring 2009, Robert will be working on a one-act play about Lynyrd Skynyrd, Southern rock, and race that will be presented together with a John Lennon-inspired one-act by playwright Barton Bishop as an evening of rock n' roll one-acts. He's also working on a project called "Disgraced TV," which will result in the creation of ten five-minute long web episodes of a show he's developing with his company of actors, including Rebecca Benhayon and Joe Stipek.

Follow these links to learn more:
Robert Attenweiler talks about his play …and we all wore leather pants (AUDIO)
Interview about Robert Attenweiler's play Torrents with performance of an excerpt (AUDIO)
Interview about Robert Attenweiler's play Kansas City or Along the Way with performance of an excerpt (AUDIO)
Review of Torrents
Review of All Kinds of Shifty Villains
Review of Kansas City or Along the Way
Disgraced Productions official website

Arthur Aulisi: A stalwart of the indie theatre scene for the past 15 years, Arthur Aulisi delivered first-class performances this year in Inverse Theater's Me, Rabbit Hole Ensemble's Big Thick Rod, and AndHow! Theatre's Linus & Alora. The photo shows Arthur in a scene from Big Thick Rod. In addition to ongoing project development as Associate Artistic Director of AndHow and as a teaching associate with The Essentials, he will be performing in Manhattan Theatre Source's InGenius Festival in January (Nat Cassidy's Any Day Now) and in the Ontological's Incubator series in April (Hoi Polloi's The Less We Talk). There is also talk of another summer collaboration with Rabbit Hole Ensemble's Ed Elefterion and Stanton Wood.

Follow these links to learn more:
Interview with Jessica Davis-Irons about Linus & Alora
Review of Me
Review of Big Thick Rod
Review of Linus & Alora
AndHow Theater Company's official website

Counting Squares Theatre: This new company, co-founded by University of Central Florida grads Ryan Nicholoff, Joshua Chase Gold, and Dena Kology, burst onto the indie scene with fearless productions of Bent and Boys' Life, and then surpassed these with an insightful and innovative adaptation of Woyzeck that mashes up the wartime cultures of three historical epochs. In the photo are Joshua Chase Gold, Ryan Nicholoff, and Dena Kology. Counting Squares Theatre is looking to produce two brand new pieces hot off the presses in the upcoming months. One was penned by one of the company members and the other is a secret.

Follow these links to learn more:
Interview with Ryan Nicholoff, Joshua Chase Gold, and Dena Kology about Woyzeck (AUDIO)
Review of Boys' Life
Review of Woyzeck
Counting Squares Theatre's official website

Michael Criscuolo: Longtime nytheatre.com reviewer (and former staff member) Michael Criscuolo had a stream of successful performances this year that showcased his remarkable versatility. From the Stephen King-inspired chills of The Blood Brothers Present...The Master of Horror to Trav S.D.'s new vaudeville No Applause, Just Throw Money, Michael's talents graced some half-dozen shows in 2008. Writer-director Aaron Baker and Michael (along with co-stars Iracel Rivero and Adam Swiderski) will be teaming up for Season 2 of 3800 Elizabeth, opening sometime in mid-February.

Follow these links to learn more:
Review of Babylon Babylon
Review of Q&A
Review of No Applause, Just Throw Money
Review of The Blood Brothers Present...The Master of Horror
nytheatre mike 2.0 (Michael Criscuolo's blog)

Ivanna Cullinan: As a director, she brought Zack Calhoon's Breaking Ranks to the stage in late 2007, and as an actor she stole the spotlight in featured roles in plays as varied as The Magnificent Ambersons, The Rape of the Lock, and The Granduncle Quadrilogy. Cullinan also continued to contribute regularly to nytheatre.com as one of our most incisive reviewers. Shown in the photo is Ivanna in a scene from The Granduncle Quadrilogy. In January 2009, she will be acting in a reading of a new Lisa Ferber piece, The Ravishment & Redemption of Young Virginia Goodheart at Theater for the New City; beginning to workshop a piece with Alyssa Siemon; and directing and working with Danny Bowes on the development of his play, Hollywood Mon Amour. Ivanna is a Master Mason at the Brick Theater.

Follow these links to learn more:
Review of The Magnificent Ambersons
Review of The Granduncle Quadrilogy
Brick Theater website

Flux Theatre Ensemble: This rising theatre company had a hit in the New York International Fringe Festival with Other Bodies, written by artistic director August Schulenburg, and then went on to mount the fall's most ambitious indie show, Johnna Adams's Angel Eaters Trilogy. The photo shows a scene from Flux's FringeNYC production of Other Bodies. Their upcoming season will feature a play written by August Schulenburg for the actors of the Ensemble following ten characters through the turmoil and change of the 1960s.

Follow these links to learn more:
Interview with August Schulenburg about The Angel Eaters Trilogy, with performance of an excerpt (AUDIO)
Review of Other Bodies
Review of The Angel Eaters Trilogy
Flux Theatre Ensemble's official website
Flux Theatre Ensemble's official blog

Peter Judd: He was honored with a New York Innovative Theatre Award nomination in 2008 for his performance as Grandpa in You Can't Take it With You, and then topped that with another affecting portrayal, as Nonno in Terry Schreiber's revival of The Night of the Iguana. Judd also starred in Handcart Ensemble's Oedipus at Colonus. In the photo is Peter as Nonno in The Night of the Iguana. He says that he remembers Nonno as one of the most satisfying roles he has ever played. Since then, he has been working on late Ibsen, The Master Builder and John Gabriel Borkman and Mr. Solomon in The Price. He looks forward to opportunities in 2009, and urges readers to see the good work being done at the Metropolitan Playhouse and at T. Schreiber where Peter is a board member.

Follow these links to learn more:
Review of The Night of the Iguana
Review of Oedipus at Colonus
Metropolitan Playhouse's official website
T. Schreiber Studio's official website

Cheryl King: Founder and operator of a unique performance space in midtown Manhattan, Cheryl King and her company Stage Left Studio nurture and develop artists by offering continual shows year-round, plus a series of festivals. The 2008 LeftOut Festival, devoted to gay-themed work, had two breakout hits, David Sisco & Tom Gualtieri's Bait and Joe Hutcheson's Miss Magnolia Beaumont Goes to Provincetown. Cheryl King of Stage Left Studio has an ambitious schedule for 2009: the second annual LeftOut Festival, April 16-27; the third annual Women at Work Festival in October 2009; and extended runs of new solo shows, plus several that won critical acclaim in 2008, including Frank Blocker's Southern Gothic Novel, Toni Silver's Shame Lips, Anthony Johnston's Art's Heart, and Michelle Vest's Sole Survivors. The Forbidden Kiss series will continue to be presented about every three weeks, showcasing its growing company of actor/writers presenting original erotica.

Follow these links to learn more:
Interview about the LeftOut Festival with Bait performers Tom Gualtieri and David Sisco (AUDIO)
Review of Miss Magnolia Beaumont Goes to Provincetown
LeftOut Festival website
Stage Left Studio's official website
Cheryl King's official website

Tom Lee: Master puppetmaker and designer, Tom Lee contributed to a number of shows this year, including Lone Wolf Tribe's Bride and Czechoslovak-American Marionette Theatre's The Very Sad Story of Ethel & Julius. He also presented his own work Ko'olau at La MaMa E.T.C. In the photo is a scene from the LaMaMa production of Ko'olau. Tom is co-director of the Puppet Lab at St. Ann's Warehouse which will present its 11th annual festival of new experimental puppet works in early January 2009. Tom will perform in Dan Hurlin's puppet theater piece Disfarmer, also at St. Ann's, in January, and return to the Metropolitan Opera in February as a principal puppeteer in Anthony Minghella's staging of Madama Butterfly.

Follow these links to learn more:
Interview with Tom Lee about Ko'olau (AUDIO)
Review of Bride
Review of Ko'olau
Tom Lee's official website

Melle Powers: As a solo performer, she starred in the self-written Whence Came Ye, Scarlett O'Hara O'Hanrahan at the FRIGID New York festival (for which she was nominated for a NYIT Award). As an actor, she starred in Andrew Irons's moving new play Linus & Alora. In the photo is Melle in a scene from Whence Came Ye, Scarlett O'Hara O'Hanrahan. In 2009 she will start the year by going to Berkeley to do the world premiere of Sarah Ruhl's new play: In the Next Room (or the Vibrator Play). She is also working on finding a commercial producer for Whence Came Ye..., as well as creating new work with Chris Harcum and Yusef Miller.

Follow these links to learn more:
Interview with Melle Powers about Whence Came Ye, Scarlett O'Hara O'Hanrahan (AUDIO)
Review of Whence Came Ye, Scarlett O'Hara O'Hanrahan?
Review of Linus & Alora
Melle Powers's official website
Melle Powers on YouTube
Scarlett O'Hara O'Hanrahan official website

Tlaloc Rivas: Originally from California, Tlaloc Rivas has quickly become one of the most acclaimed directors in NYC's indie sector. His productions of Tennessee Williams's Summer and Smoke and Shelagh Stephenson's Five Kinds of Silence were among the most significant of his contributions this year. Tlaloc's upcoming projects include The Broodmare: A Mother for Birthing by Zoe Morris (premiering this Spring 2009 at Bard College) and the development of a new piece through INTAR's Writer/Director Lab.

Follow these links to learn more:
Review of Summer and Smoke
Review of Five Kinds of Silence
Tlaloc Rivas's blog
Video blog for Five Kinds of Silence

Bricken Sparacino: A generous and tireless collaborator, Bricken Sparacino directed and helped develop solo shows at festivals such as Chris Harcum's American Badass and Joy Gabriel's Mother May I. She also co-created and hosted the innovative Under Midnight, a monthly cabaret at the Zipper Factory providing a home for performers of all stripes. Bricken's play Are We Freaks will be part of the FRIGID New York Festival, Feb. 28- March 8, 2009 (specific dates tba). She will also be acting in and co-directing Are We Freaks. And look for three more installments of Until Midnight to follow the closing of Are We Freaks.

Follow these links to learn more:
Interview with Bricken Sparacino about American Badass (AUDIO)
Interview with Bricken Sparacino about the Wonder Women Week Festival (AUDIO)
Review of American Badass
Review of Those Whistling Lads
Review of Mother May I
Bricken Sparacino's website

Elise Stone: Long the leading actress at Jean Cocteau Repertory, Elise Stone became one of the founding artistic directors of Phoenix Ensemble Theatre, where in 2008 she starred as Mary, Queen of Scots in Glyn Maxwell's The Lifeblood, and directed the new play I Have Before Me a Remarkable Document Given to Me by a Young Lady from Rwanda, one of the first shows in New York City to deal directly with the Rwandan genocide. In the photo is Elise Stone as Mary, Queen of Scots in The Lifeblood. She is very excited about the Phoenix Theatre Ensemble's upcoming production of Jean Cocteau's Indiscretions at the Connelly Theatre, which opens on February 20. Phoenix is not quite ready to talk about their plans for next season.... but some very wonderful projects are currently under discussion and they are looking forward to announcing them soon.

Follow these links to learn more:
Review of I Have Before Me a Remarkable Document…
Review of The Lifeblood
Phoenix Theatre Ensemble's official website

The Talking Band: Under the leadership of Paul Zimet and his collaborators Tina Shepard and Ellen Maddow, The Talking Band has been making extraordinary multi-disciplinary theatre for three decades. This year they gave audiences two shows, Imminence, which explores the nature of time, and Flip Side, a theatrical meditation on longing. The photo shows Steven Rattazzi and Ellen Maddow in a scene from Imminence. Oct 1 - 18, 2009: The Talking Band and La MaMa E.T.C. will be presenting a new work, Radnevsky's Real Magic, a collaboration with master magician, Peter Samelson, music composed by Ellen Maddow, written and directed by Paul Zimet.

Follow these links to learn more:
Interview with Paul Zimet and Ellen Maddow about Flip Side (AUDIO)
Review of Imminence
Review of Flip Side
Flip Side official website
The Talking Band's official website