Lorraine Olsen is Figuratively Speaking

I'm producing a new play! A sneak preview of a fabulous one person show by my dear friend Lorraine Olsen! See it now and be among those who can say "I saw it when ..."

February 24th and 25th at 8:00 pm
February 26th at 2:00

Wow Cafe Theater
59-61 E 4th St
between Bowery and 2nd Ave

$18

Told with humor and brio, Lorraine Olsen unveils the world of fine art modelling in this sparkling memoir. Fresh from the San Francisco Fringe Festival of 2011 where it won Best Box Office! Don't miss it!

Miriam Eusebio

Miriam Eusebio 718-809-0634 meusebio@earthlink.net

Associate, SDC

Current Projects

Intentional Theater Company www.IntentionalTheater

Preparing for a production of The Path of Return Continues the Journey by Thic Naht Hanh for the summer of 2012.

Truth Values: One Girl’s Romp Through MIT’s Math Maze by Gioia DeCari. Award winning one woman play chronicling DeCari’s hero’s journey through the PhD Math program at MIT. Ongoing. www.UnexpectedTheatre.org for tour details.

Productions Directed

Truth Values: One Girl’s Romp Through MIT’s Male Math Maze Gioia DeCari Unexpected Theater, NY Firnge 2009

NYFringe Overall Excellence Award, solo

Happy Days Samuel Beckett Intentional Theater, at Wow, 2009

Schadenfreude! The Asshole Differential Explained Moira Cutler Wow Café Theater, 2008

Asshole Differential Moira Cutler Dixon Place, 2007

Faces . . . Voices Doreen Perrine Miriam Eusebio Projects, 2006

Mrs. Miller Cirie and Collins Sounding Theater Company, 2005

Take Care of Yourself Diana Fithian Manhattan Theater Source, 2005

Campus Security Arthur Giron New Jersey Repertory, 2005

Escape From Happiness George Walker Clark University 2005

Where Have You Been? Fiona Jones Bridge Club Productions, 2004

Faces . . . Voices Doreen Perrine Stages Transgender Theat. Fest., 2003

Midsummer Night’s Dream Shakespeare New Perspectives, 2003

Taming of the Shrew* Shakespeare New Perspectives, 2002

The 9th Envelope Gioia DeCari Various venues, 2001

Pericles Shakespeare Midtown Int. Theater Fest.. 2000

Pericles* Shakespeare Carrie Edel, at Expanded Arts, 2000

This production was also brought to New Jersey Repertory for four performances.

The Rain or Moisturizer Christopher Day Expanded Arts, 1999

Private Eyes Steven Deitz Brooklyn College, 1999

Oedipus at Colonus Sophocles Brooklyn College, 1997

Body of Myth Deborah Goodwin Bindlestiff Theater, 1994

Blue Window Craig Lucas Art Rise Studio Theater, 1994

Painting Churches Tina Howe Art Rise Studio Theater, 1993

The Marriage of Bette and Boo Christopher Durang Art Rise Studio Theater, 1993

The Actor’s Nightmare Christopher Durang Plank and a Passion, 1987

Act Without Words II Samuel Beckett Chico State University, 1986

*Off-Off Broadway Review award for Excellence

Plays with Young Actors

Handsel and Gretel (opera) Humperdink Camp Ballibay, 2002

Leviathan and And the Sea Shall Give Up It’s Dead (as teleplays) Thornton Wilder Camp Ballibay, 2002

Controlling the Fashion Victims Jenna Mann Urban Youth Theater, 2001

The Long Christmas Dinner Thornton Wilder Camp Ballibay, 2001

Our Bench Alexis Harbour Urban Youth Theater, 2000

Staged Readings, New York

Winter Light Lionel Kranitz 2006

Hoax Pamela Monk Messenger Theater Company, 2005

The Hard Way Gino Di Iorio New Jersey Repertory, 2005

Sleeping Beauty Carolyn Gage Messenger Theater Company, 2004

Amor y Pesetas Suzanne Gamble New Perspectives, 2002

Free Lunch Lionel Kranitz New 42nd St. Theater, 2000

Train Birds Lionel Kranitz New 42nd St. Theater, 2000

The Spirit House Adam Kraar New Jersey Repertory, 1999

Education/Professional Associations

BA Theater Arts, California State University, Chico

MFA Directing, Brooklyn College, CUNY

Acting and Directing Workshops with Joseph Chaikin

Drama Studio London, Berkeley, Summer Acting Intensive

Member Lincoln Center Director’s Lab

Collective Member, Wow Café Theater

Associate Member Society for Stage Directors and Choreographers

References

Fiona Jones, Manhatan Theater Source fiona@theatersource.org

Emily Davis, Messenger Theater Company emily@messengertheatreco.org

Gino DiIorio, playwright, Head of Theater Department, Clark Univsersity, GINOD42@aol.com

Still Reaching

Almost a year later and I'm still dreaming. I still feel like Intentional's Happy Days needs a wider audience and a high profile review. I still feel like it needs to be part of the conversation that artists have with this play. The way I had a conversation with productions previous to mine by reading reviews in the Billy Rose Theater Collection at the Lincoln Center Library. It doesn't feel like it's been almost a year but it has.

I've had more talks with people who can give us advice and have new leads on more people to talk to. A packet of materials to give to potential theaters has been developed. It's quite nice - with photos, a quote sheet, an example of our edits and a copy of the chapbook of poems Winnie can't remember. A budget is being created. We're getting closer.

Dreaming Through the Maze

I have a dream. A simple but difficult dream that I'm scheming to bring to reality. That dream is for Intentional Theater's Happy Days to run in an off broadway house for a substantial run, for it to be reviewed by the best writers at the Times and the Voice, and for a wide audience to experience it.

I have no experience with how to make this happen and am feeling my way through the process: I have begun a conversation with people at what I hope is a likely candidate.

This seems to be a slow process.

In the meantime, a project I thought would start this fall was given a space grant and accepted to the NY Fringe Festival and so I am rehearsing a new play! The play is Truth Values: One

Girl's Romp Through MIT's Male Math Maze by Gioia DeCari.

It is DeCari's story of her experiences at MIT, in the PhD track studying logic, and why she became an actress instead of a mathemetician. DeCari is an excellent actress and writer and it is a joy to work on it with her.

A 12 minute snippet will be presented on Thursday June 25th at Dance Theater Workshop 219 W. 19th Street, NYC, 7:30 $10.

Fringe performances are not yet scheduled.

Happy Days by Samuel Beckett

directed by Miriam Eusebio

Wow Cafe Theater

59-61 East 4th Street

Reservations: 212-545-4119

February 26, 27, 28, March 4, 5, 11, 12, 13, 14, 19, 20, 21 at 8:00 pm, March 1, 7, 8, & 15th at

3:00 pm

Samuel Beckett's iconic 20th century masterpiece of modern isolation and illusion is presented by Intentional Theater using a text specially edited to reflect Beckett's own changes as limned in his production notebook.  This production promises to be a groundbreaking event.  Asta Hansen plays the trapped Winnie, up to her waist in a mound of earth.  She is joined by Dale Fuller as her husband Willie who resides, crawling and grunting behind the mound.  The characters, seemingly in separate worlds, are yet connected by shared history and love in this strange and wonderful play.

Check out the Happy Days video on East Village Podcasts!  http://www.eastvillagepodcasts.com

A Bunch of Photos, mostly from Open Rehearsal 11/9/08

Asta Hansen lookin' lovely in costume.

Winnie up to her neck in mock set.

Winnie explaining how one sometimes get through the whole day without having put up at all.  The rehearsal sunshade did a fine job, but will be replaced anyway.  The sunshade will become smaller and more whimsical.  Tassels will be included.  

Rehearsal props.  Some are done.  Some not.   It is impossible to rehearse this play without props.   The lines and the actions are so intertwined as to be one.

The cover of our chapbook.  It is the poems that Winnie tries to remember during the course of the play.  The picture on the cover of the book is our earlier postcard photo, with Janet Ward as Winnie.  I miss her.  

Me and Asta Hansen in costume, listening to someone after our scenes presentation.  We got some good feedback that day.  We learned some things that were working well and some that needed tweaking.  

Dale Fuller in the Willie hat.  I love this hat - it is just right - except that it is a little too small for Dale.  I made it from aluminum foil and paper mache.  I'll have to make another and I hope the new one comes out as nicely as the first!

Moving along Apace

The Happy Days crew is moving along in our journey toward our production.  After an open rehearsal at which we showed off some well prepared scenes, we have invigorated confidence.   (You see here a bit of our mock set, and Asta Hansen as Winnie, deciphering the toothbrush while Dale Fuller as Willie fans himself with the newspaper.)  We have no illusions about how difficult the road ahead is, and we look forward to the journey.  The play is so complex, so rich, and so good that the work is a joy.  Each time through a new detail becomes clear or a new sense of a moment asserts itself.  

We are joined on our journey by set designer Darya Geerisimenko.  Below is her first draft rendering of a back drop.  We are thrilled to have such a talented and enthusiastic designer on the ride with us.