PlayGround Company in the News October-2019
Read on to learn more about PlayGround Company Member and Alumni recent news, current happenings, and upcoming events as we prepare for the first Monday Night PlayGround of the Season!
Carla Pantoja is playing the title role in the premier of Andrew Saito play EL RIO at Brava theatre, stage managed by Sarah Gasser.
Julia Brothers is performing in DANCE NATION at SF Playhouse through November 9, 2019.
Rachel Bublitz‘s full-length play CHEERLEADERS VS. ALIENS is hot off the presses and available for licensing and purchasing through Pioneer Drama Service. Additionally, Z Space’s World Premiere Production of RIPPED is a finalist for seven Theatre Bay Area Awards, including Outstanding World Premiere Play and Outstanding Production of a play.
Tessa Corrie is thrilled to be a new company member with PlayGround SF! She is currently directing for THE BENCH PROJECT at Los Altos Stage Company. A festival produced by TheatreWorks’ Casting Director Jeffrey Lo. Opening September 23rd and closing September 24th. All proceeds will be donated to The Sacred Heart Community Service so please bring a coat to the drive!
This SEPTEMBER 11TH by Rob Dario will be part of FUTURE TENSE: The Festival of Developing Works at TheatreFirst. MAY 2020.
Patricia Cotter‘s play THE DAUGHTERS (which received early and support and development by PlayGround) is being produced by SF Playhouse and begins previews October 9 with an official opening on October 18th at The Creativity Theatre in San Francisco. Patricia’s latest play AFTER ALL I DID FOR YOU, which was a commission by Florida Atlantic University’s Fair Play Initiative, will receive its initial reading on October 27th at FSU in Boca Raton, Florida.
Livia Gomes Demarchi will be seen as Tania in NATIVE GARDENS by Karen Zacarías, directed by Michael Butler at Center Rep, running October 18th through November 16th. She is thrilled to join the company at Playground!
Cindy Goldfield is opening THE LEGEND OF GEORGIA MCBRIDE at TownHall Lafayette and prepping for her 16th season of A CHRISTMAS CAROL at ACT. Her production of ONCE (42nd Street Moon) was just nominated for 9 TBA awards, including Outstanding Musical and Best Direction of a Musical.
Rosie Hallett is playing Pope Joan and Win in TOP GIRLS at ACT through October 13.
Daryl Anthony Harper also continues to have commercial Voice Over spots flooding the airwaves in TV, Radio and on the Internet for Honda, McDonald’s and Cliff Bar.He is also diving into two original pieces called “BooHag” and “Rock, Paper, Scissors” as part of the TheatreFirst production of “FROM THE GROUND UP:AN ANTHOLOGY OF GHOST STORIES MADE NEW” Previewing in in late October!
In addition Daryl co-stars in the just released comedic short film directed by Jesse Eisenhardt, called “Take Me Out To The Bowl Game“!
After a sold-out 10 performance run at Tao House, Eric Fraisher Hayes‘ production of Long Day’s JOURNEY INTO NIGHT travels this week for two performances at the Eugene O’Neill International Festival of Theatre in New Ross, Ireland
Brian Herndon is playing Mr. Collins in PRIDE AND PREJUDICE at TheatreWorks this winter.
Danielle Levin is starting the MFA program in Dramatic Art at UC Davis this fall. (She’ll be staying in Oakland during the two years of the program!) Hitting the ground running at UCD, on Oct. 3 – 5 she’s performing in Rachel Bublitz’s BURST as part of their Ground and Field Theatre Festival.
Melanie Marshall will be appearing in BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER LIVE! the drag parody at Oasis October 10 – November 9th.
Roger Q Mason’s SOFTER, a short film about queer slave owner Mister Charlie and his body servant Ishmael, will premiere at Outshine Film Festival in Fort Lauderdale, FL on October 1
Alanna McFall’s debut paranormal novel about ghosts, mimes and road trips, THE TRAVELING TRIPLE-C INCORPOREAL CIRCUS, was recently reviewed in the San Francisco Book Review. You can purchase your own copy online or request it from your local bookstore, just in time for Halloween.
Julia McNeal is opening in TOP GIRLS at ACT
Ross Peter Nelson‘s ten-minute play WORKERS OF THE WORLD will be published in some scripts literary magazine. The play will appear in Issue 2, which will come out in October.
Ely Orquiza is thrilled to be directing the world premier of DRIVEN by Boni B. Alvarez for Theatre Rhinoceros, running on Oct. 31 to Nov. 17, 2019 at Spark Arts in The Castro. He recently assistant directed for Dawn Monique Williams (Associate AD with Aurora Theatre) on TI JEAN AND HIS BROTHERS at A.C.T. The Strand and will soon be directing for American Conservatory Theatre Young Conservatory’s Fall Show: ONE MINUTE PLAY FESTIVAL. He continues to teach theater and performance with ACT, Magic Theater, and Stagebridge. Ely is beyond proud to have just become a PlayGround company member.
Ultra-marathoner Evelyn Jean Pine reads the three best chapters from Herman Melville’s Moby Dick — you know ’em — “The Prophet,” “The Fountain,” and “The Hat” as part of the SF Maritime Museum‘s Moby Dick Marathon, Saturday, October 19 through Sunday, October 18 — celebrating the 200th birthday of a guy whose most famous book sold 3000 copies during his lifetime.
Madeline Puccioni would love to see lots of her Playground pals at The Shelton theater 7pm on November 11th, for a staged reading of her new full-length play, TIME AFTER TIME AGAIN. Downstairs at 533 Sutter, SF. sponsored by The Playwrights Center SF, 7:30 pm
Cathleen Riddley will be playing the role of Mary Tyrone in LONG DAY’S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT at Ubuntu Theater Project in the month of October.
Kata Rivera is directing THERE IS A HAPPINESS THAT MORNING IS with Performers Under Stress opening November 9 at Phoenix Theatre in SF
Katie Rubin is playing the roles of Mal and Gina in Patricia Cotter’s THE DAUGHTERS at SF Playhouse, opening October 9th, and continues to teach acting, Improv and stand up writing at Stanford University in the Continuing Studies Department while also having just completed her first book, and working with a myriad of private Energy Healing Clients. She is proud and thrilled to have just become a company member with Playground!
Mercedes Segesvary is excited to be one of five playwrights included in The Vagrancy 2020 Writers Group: Blossoming. She is developing a brand new full length play titled, THE LAST ONE, the story of Kranbary, a woman who notices that people everywhere are losing their memories and becoming life coaches. This sudden mass consciousness shift leads her on an adventure to find the source of the movement: Before it’s too late to remember everything that made her the person she is today. This nine-month development will culminate with a public reading at the Lyric Hyperion Theatre Cafe in Los Angeles.
Rebecca Schweitzer just joined the cast of BULL IN A CHINA SHOP at the Aurora, starting rehearsal in a few weeks and opening in November.
Robert Sicular, recently returned from a successful summer at the Colorado Shakespeare Festival, heads up to Ashland for the Ashland New Plays Festival, where he will be reading the part of Nathaniel in THE NIGHT CLIMBER, October 17th and 20th. He then comes right back to the Bay Area to start rehearsals for MOTHER OF THE MAID at the Marin Theatre Company, running November 14- December 8.
From October 27th through November 17th, PlayGround alums and company members Brittney Fraser, Cleavon Smith, and Arisa White each have short plays in TheatreFirst’s “FROM THE GROUND UP: AN ANTHOLOGY OF GHOST STORIES MADE NEW, facilitated by Jon Tracy. On September 23rd and 24th alum Cleavon Smith‘s ten-page play TWO FRIENDS, A TOOTHBRUSH, AND A SENSE OF URGENCY played at the Los Altos Stage in The Bench Project 7 directed by company member Jeffery Lo. Proceeds from the performances went to Sacred Hearts Community Services. Donations are still accepted at https://sacredheartcs.org/.
M. Graham Smith is creating/directing FDR DRAG SHOW with Regan Linton and Wry Crips at ACT’s Costume Shop Sept 27-29. 75 Minutes with strangers who become friends, exploring cocktails and braces, swimming pools and hand jobs, New Deals and marital dances hosted by our first President with disability: FDR.
Jonathan Spector‘s EUREKA DAY had its New York premiere last month with Colt Coeur, and was a New York Times & Time Out New York “Critics’ Pick”. It will be at InterAct Theater in Philadelphia later this month.
Nic Sommerfeld will be performing in Cabaret Cressida, a queer adaptation of TROILUS AND CRESSDIA presented by Poltergeist Theatre Project. The show runs from the 3rd to 13th at the Kelly Cullen Community in SF and tickets are by donation.
Danielle Thys just got her RYT 200 Yoga Alliance teacher certification and is developing an augmented reality sound healing/guided meditation app.
Tracy Ward is directing the regional premiere of Belarus Brunstetter’s THE CAKE
At NCTC, opening November 2
Liz Anderson is doing a year-long residency at SF FilmHouse developing a SciFi feature film entitled CORDYCEPS, which is a finalist for the Sundance Development Track (formerly called the Sundance Screenwriters Lab).
Rinabeth Apostol was in HOUSE OF JOY at Cal Shakes, which ran until September 8th.
Michael Barrett Austin is playing Orlando in San Francisco Shakespeare Company‘s new musical version of ‘AS YOU LIKE IT,’ FREE in San Francisco parks from now through September 22nd!
Ellen Koivisto, Bridgette Dutta Portman, and Lisa Kang’s Innovator Incubator company Same Boat Theater Collective had a staged reading of their collectively-written play THE EMERYVILLE HORROR (Lynn Aylward, Lead Writer; Linda Amayo-Hassan, contributing writer) at Potrero Stage on August 12, directed by Ellen. An excerpt of the play was performed at the Emeryville Block Party on August 24 and it will also be presented at Lit Crawl on October 19.
Mary Baird recently did a reading of THE SWEET SPOT at Capital Stage Playwrites’ Revolution. In January of 2020 she will be playing Ann Marie in A DOLL’S HOUSE 2 at Coyote Stages.
Tom Buett had a short (meaning 2.5 minute short) play in an evening of 21 short plays called FINGERTIPS, based on the music of They Might be Giants. It ran at the Exit Theatre in SF as part of the SF Fringe Fest.
Millie Brooks is performing in TESTMATCH at ACT directed by Pam MacKinnon, running from October 24th to Dec. 8th.
Julia Brothers is appearing as Maeve in DANCE NATION by Clare Barron at SF Playhouse, directed by Becca Wolff, choreography by Kim Richards running Sept 24 – Nov 9, 2019.
Rachel Bublitz is thrilled to have the Utah Premiere of RIPPED with Good Company Theatre in Ogden, Utah, from September 20 – October 6 . Rachel will also be back near the Bay Area for a workshop production of her full-length BURST, with UC Davis’ Ground & Field Theatre Festival, October 3, 4, and 5.
Lizzy Calogero’s TREASURE ISLAND with the SF Mime Troupe closed September 8th in Santa Cruz.
Ron Campbell is currently performing 25 characters in THE 39 STEPS at TheatreWorks and his short film DUNK (originally a Playground play) is completed and is being submitted to film festivals.
Patricia Cotter had a reading of her play 1980 (OR WHY I’M VOTING FOR JOHN ANDERSON) as part of Portland’s The Reading Parlor, in September. Rehearsals begin soon for the World Premiere of THE DAUGHTERS, produced by SF Playhouse’s Sandbox Series . Patricia is thrilled to be the first recipient of the Theatre Lab’s, “The Fair Play Initiative”. The program for commissioning and development of plays by LGBTQ+ playwrights will have a reading of Patricia’s new play in October.
Nara Dahlbacka will be directing for OLYMPIANS NIGHT OF SHORTS. She also just closed 52 LETTERS with Ubuntu, for which she did staging consulting.
Rob Dario is appearing in THE FLICK, Annie Baker’s Pulitzer Prize Winning play about a movie theater (and so much more), at Shotgun Players August 29 thru September 22
Rebecca Ennals directed AS YOU LIKE IT: A NEW MUSICAL with music by The Kilbanes and Phil Wong for San Francisco Shakespeare Festival, which runs in San Francisco through Sept 22, featuring PlayGround company members Gwen Loeb, Norman Gee, and Michael Barrett Austin
Victoria Evans Erville‘s play, THE LIES THAT BIND, has been chosen to receive the Brady Fellowship at 3Girls Theatre. It will be presented in January as part of the Salon Reading Series.
Margo Hall is appearing in EXIT STRATEGY, the season opening show at Aurora. It runs through September 29th.
Eric Fraisher Hayes will be directing LONG DAY’S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT at Tao House in September. The production will be traveling to Ireland in October.
Sarah Gasser is starting rehearsals for EL RIO with BACCE, performing in October at Brava.
Elizabeth Flanagan’s one-act play, ANNA NOT EMMA, will be produced as part of the Stranger Play Festival this September in Vermont.
Norman Gee is performing in AS YOU LIKE IT with the San Francisco Shakespeare Festival.
Jerome Joseph Gentes is participating in Steven Westdahl’s FINGERTIPS at the SF Fringe Festival. Inspired by a surreal collection of 21 short song choruses written by the band They Might Be Giants, Fingertips consists of 21 short plays written by 21 different playwrights performed in 60 minutes (or less)!
Cindy Goldfield is currently directing GEORGIA MCBRIDE at TownHall Lafayette, and prepping for her 16th (!) season of A CHRISTMAS CAROL at ACT
As Co-Editor-in-Chief of Exposition Review, Lauren Gorski will be hosting a hybrid reading and writing workshop on Saturday, October 19th with Lit Crawl SF. The reading/workshop is called “SF In a Flash” and features flash readers in different genres, with a prompt at the end for everyone to write their own flash piece.
Tanya Grove got a new kitten, name pending but very likely Rumpus, as in “Let the wild rumpus start!” in Where the Wild Things Are. He and her dog Ruby are becoming fast friends.
Brian Herndon just closed CABARET at City Lights Theater Company in San Jose. Next up, he will be playing Mr. Collins in PRIDE AND PREJUDICE at TheatreWorks.
Jeffrey Lo’s production of THE LANGUAGE ARCHIVE at TheatreWorks Silicon Valley (featuring PlayGround company members Jomar Tagatac and Elena Wright) closed a few weeks ago. He is now producing a night of short plays for charity called THE BENCH PROJECT 7 at Los Altos Stage Company where folks can donate a warm coat for those in need to watch a night of six plays, including one written by Jeffrey and one written by alumnus Cleavon Smith and one directed by company member Tessa Corrie.
Johnathan Luskin production company, Flying Moose Pictures, launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund the short documentary, MY NAME IS SIRI, about a young woman with autism who discovered her talent for designing jewelry and changed her life. It is being
George Maguire is co-producing a new film, HE WAS HERE, with Michael Ray Wisely and Nancy Madden. He also did a photo shoot for AARP Magazine for the upcoming issue’s article by Tom Hanks on the meaning of friendship, and is a proud part of Theaterfirst’s new play development series working with Tom Swift and his PlayGround commissioned play, A MARRIAGE.
Meghan Maugeri‘s full-length comedy, MOTHERS OF THE BRIDE, will have a staged reading at Pear Theatre in Mountain View, CA on November 16th at 2PM. A discussion with the playwright will be held after the show.
Alanna McFall has been visiting open mics across the Bay Area, sharing excerpts from her debut novel THE TRAVELING TRIPLE-C INCORPOREAL CIRCUS. She also recently sat down with Bay Area interviewer Anne H. Maxwell to talk her novel, her participation with PlayGround, and her writing process in general. You can check out the upcoming interview here.
Julia McNeil is playing Isabella Bird/Louise in A.C.T.‘s season opener, TOP GIRLS by Caryl Churchill directed by Tamilla Woodard. This will be her first time on the Geary stage!
Alex Moggridge‘s play THE BOATMAN will have a staged reading at Los Angeles’s Antaeus Theatre Company in September.
Last year Lisa Morse ran a pilot program at Miriam and Lydia’s elementary school to start a Glee club, a free-after school club aimed at building community and providing stress relief through singing. This year, registration was so abundant they had to split into two clubs, so Lisa will be leading a total of 55 kids in grades 2-5 in weekly acapella singing. She is pulling together curriculum as we speak, so all recommendations are welcome!
June Palladino is settling into her new role as Safety & Occupational Health Manager at the Presidio Trust.
Louis Parnell recently concluded performances as Herr Schultz in the SF Playhouse production of CABARET.
Evelyn Jean Pine‘s 2-minute masterwork, WRECK MY CAR, was performed at the SF Fringe Festival as part of Steven Westphal’s genius FINGERTIPS SHOW inspired by They Might Be Giants. The Bridge initiative in Tempe Arizona performed MOM, I HAD AN ABORTION as part of their ROAR revue celebrating women and GRSM in theatre on September 14.
Stephanie Prentice will be the emcee for the PlayGround Silver Jubilee on September 23!
Madeline Puccioni‘s new full-length, TIME AFTER TIME AGAIN, received a staged reading with Paper Wing Theatre in Monterey, on Sept. 7, and will get another staged reading for Playwright’s Center San Francisco at The Shelton Theatre on November 11. Both readings are free. And yes, don’t worry – Madeline will send you a reminder. And she will bring wine and nibbles to The Shelton reading for you on November 11th. It behooves her now to finish the 4th draft of this little monster, does it not?
Geetha Reddy’s adaptation of MAHABHARATA will be performed by Ubuntu Theatre November 8-December 1.
Cathleen Riddley will be playing Mary Tyrone in LONG DAY’S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT at Ubuntu Theater Project in October.
Annette Roman’s short play BEST SERVED, originally written for Monday Night PlayGround, will be produced as part of the Hollywood Short+Sweet festival end of September/early October 2019. She will be producing a holiday show at PianoFight in early December 2019 entitled HOLIDAYS WITH A TWIST: CHRISTMAS EDITION II. It will include a short holiday play Annette wrote for Monday Night PlayGround, a one-act produced in the first edition of this show in 2016, and two short plays by other playwrights to be determined.
Mark Routhier is directing Shakespeare for the first time, the OSF commissioned update of MEASURE FOR MEASURE by Aditi Kapil. It will run in The Great Hall of the New Orleans Museum of Art and is produced by The NOLA Project.
Robert Sicular returns to the Bay Area after a wonderfully successful summer at the Colorado Shakespeare Festival and is looking forward to MOTHER OF THE MAID at Marin Theatre Company later this Fall.
Lauren Spencer is closing Just Theater’s production of CRY IT OUT just in time to begin rehearsals for SF Playhouse’s DANCE NATION. She will be directing two pieces in TheatreFirst’s GHOST Stories this fall.
Danielle Thys just wrapped shooting her scenes as Susan in FREE BYRD, an indie feature currently in production in the North Bay.
Tracy Ward is directing the regional premiere of THE CAKE by Bekah Brunstetter at New Conservatoryin November.
Steven Westdahl produced/directed FINGERTIPS at the SF Fringe. The 60-minute show features 21 short plays written by 21 different playwrights, including some PlayGround folks from both SF and LA. Inspired by a surreal collection of 21 short song choruses written by the band They Might Be Giants, Fingertips consists of 21 short plays written by 21 different playwrights performed in 60 minutes (or less)! A one-of-a-kind locally-grown short-attention-span experience!
Madison Wetzell’s play THE OFFICIAL UNICORN HUNTERS’ GUIDE was a finalist for PianoFight’s ShortLived VIII, which took place at A.C.T’s Strand Theater on September 6th and 7th at 8pm. Her play MEDIOCRE HETEROSEXUAL SEX will be part of the second annual Problematic Play Festival, a staged-reading series at Z-Space on October 4th.
Reggie White is understudying in THE INHERITANCE on Broadway.
Maury Zeff‘s one act play, ETERNAL HELLFIRE AND DAMNATION: A LOVE STORY, will receive a main stage production in the Pittsburgh New Works Festival, September 20 – 29 at the Genesius Theatre. The play was originally commissioned for the 2018 SF Olympians Festival.