Friday, October 29, 2010

"Naked Came the Painting" Frames Colorful Roles for Actresses

The cast for "Naked Came the Painting," a one act comedy by LindaAnn Loschiavo, has been rehearsing during October in Manhattan's theatre district.
• • In the cast are: Lila Smith [MEREDITH], Susanne Nelson [AMELIA], and David A. Green [Mr. ZIMBATATTA].
• • Shela Xoregos directs.
• • In the play, MEREDITH exasperates her mother AMELIA by focusing on the Tarot deck and trying to predict how her scholastic exams will turn out — — instead of actually studying for them. 
• • According to a recent article by Arifa Akbar, Arts correspondent, The Independent [UK]:   It is a complaint common among actresses of a certain age: the dearth of meaty roles for women over 40.  Even the elder statesman of the theatre, Sir Ian McKellen, joined the protesting chorus last year, to urge playwrights to start penning interesting roles for older actresses if they want to attract bigger audiences.
• • Tony-winner Mario Fratti, who has created many fascinating roles for women in his Broadway musical "Nine" and other works for the stage, is familiar with the writing of LindaAnn Loschiavo.  Fratti enjoys the intricate parts the PEN-award-winning writer has fashioned for characters based on real life [such as Mae West and Texas Guinan in "Courting Mae West"]; or her purely fictional femmes such as Alison, the medievalist murderess in "A Worthie Woman All Hir Live" and Regina, the poignant she-male hostess, in "Cocktail" and also the electrifying voices at the center of her dramatic monologues such as "City of Angels,"  "Merchants of Venus," and the heart-breaking "Agnus Dei"  — — First Place winner of the 3rd tnr Poetry Award.   Fratti adds, "A poet at heart, she has the ability to write in several forms with grace and a refreshing intelligence."
• •
Native New Yorker LindaAnn Loschiavo is a member of DG, TRU, and suspicious left-wing organizations.  Last year she starred in a 90-minute TV documentary on the Prohibition Era in America;  her Texas Guinan archive was featured in the footage.  Friends often regale her with Mae West quips.  Professional accomplishments include winning national playwrighting competitions, earning awards sponsored by PEN, and revising her Pulitzer acceptance speech since the last moonless night.  She has dated John Malkovich but did not notify TMZ's photographers, which she regrets.  Her tote bag holds a fistful of tattered press clips and a diary so she always has something sensational to read in the train.
• • This spirited three-character comedy — — that explores the boundaries between art and artifice — — will make its debut at the 2010 Harvest One-Act Play Festival.  Variations Theatre Group will offer performances between November 10th — 20th, 2010 at the recently renovated LABA Theatre at the 14th Street Y.

— —  — —  — —  WHO, WHAT, WHEN, WHERE — —  — —  — —
• • First performance dates and times have been announced by Variations Theatre Group for the sprightly one-act comedy "Naked Came the Painting" by LindaAnn Loschiavo.
• • FIRST DATE:  Wednesday, 10 November 2010 — — 7:00 PM
• • SECOND DATE:  Saturday, 13 November 2010 — — 9:15 PM
• • POSSIBLE DATES:  November 18th — 20th.
• • WHERE: LABA Theatre, 344 East 14th Street, NYC 10003.
• • WHAT: 2010 Harvest One-Act Play Festival
• • Subway: Union Square Station/ IRT Lexington, 4, 5, 6; First Avenue Station / L line
• • http://nakedtheatreny.blogspot.com/
• • Source:http://nakedtheatreny.blogspot.com/atom.xml
• • PHONE: 646-400-3253 to get ticket information
• • TICKETS are $15; Buy Tix Online — — http://www.variationstheatregroup.com

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Stripping Her Soul Bare in "Naked Came the Painting"

The cast for "Naked Came the Painting," a one act comedy by LindaAnn Loschiavo, has been rehearsing during October in Manhattan's theatre district.
• • In the cast are: Lila Smith [MEREDITH], David A. Green [Mr. ZIMBATATTA], and TBA.
• • Shela Xoregos directs.
• • In the play, MEREDITH exasperates her mother AMELIA by trying to predict how her scholastic exams will turn out instead of actually studying for them. 
• • Have you ever consulted a fortune teller or a psychic?  And what did you expect from this individual?  Were the psychic's statements the mighty whisper of night and blood?  Or pure hokum?
• • Seeking insight, MEREDITH invites the charismatic Mr. ZIMBATATTA to visit, never suspecting how he might scalp her naked soul with the sharp tomahawk of his persuasion.  Things will never be the same.
• • This spirited three-character comedy — — that explores the boundaries between art and artifice — — will make its debut at the 2010 Harvest One-Act Play Festival.  Variations Theatre Group will offer performances between November 10th — 20th, 2010 at the recently renovated LABA Theatre at the 14th Street Y.

— —  — —  — —  WHO, WHAT, WHEN, WHERE — —  — —  — —
• • First performance dates and times have been announced by Variations Theatre Group for the sprightly one-act comedy "Naked Came the Painting" by LindaAnn Loschiavo.
• • FIRST DATE:  Wednesday, 10 November 2010 — — 7:00 PM
• • SECOND DATE:  Saturday, 13 November 2010 — — 9:15 PM
• • POSSIBLE DATES:  November 18th — 20th.
• • WHERE: LABA Theatre, 344 East 14th Street, NYC 10003.
• • WHAT: 2010 Harvest One-Act Play Festival
• • Subway: Union Square Station/ IRT Lexington, 4, 5, 6; First Avenue Station / L line
• • http://nakedtheatreny.blogspot.com/
• • Source:http://nakedtheatreny.blogspot.com/atom.xml
• • PHONE: 646-400-3253 to get ticket information
• • TICKETS are $15; Buy Tix Online — — http://www.variationstheatregroup.com

Sunday, October 24, 2010

"NAKED" Secrets Play Peek-a-Boo

The cast for "Naked Came the Painting," a one act comedy by LindaAnn Loschiavo, has been rehearsing during October in Manhattan's theatre district.
• • In the cast are: Lila Smith (as MEREDITH), Katherine Mylenki (as AMELIA), and David A. Green (as Mr. ZIMBATATTA).
• • Shela Xoregos directs.
• • In the play, the character AMELIA, now a widow, has a subversive back-story.  During her marriage, she maintained a secret love affair with DAVID, an artist.  DAVID paints AMELIA in the nude several times as well as young MEREDITH.  Is MEREDITH his daughter?  Why does DAVID commit suicide after AMELIA is widowed?  She wears her frisky past as lightly as a vintage stole of fox tails — — but her secrets are about to be exposed.

• •
• • Kees Van Dongen • • • •
• • Born near Rotterdam, Cornelis Theodorus Maria van Dongen [1877 — 1968], usually known as Kees van Dongen or just Van Dongen, was a Dutch painter and one of the Fauves. He gained a reputation for his sensuous and sometimes garish portraits.
• • In 1892, at age 16, Kees van Dongen started his studies at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Rotterdam. During this period [1892 — 1897], van Dongen frequented the Red Quarter seaport area, where he drew scenes of sailors and prostitutes.
• • During 1897 he was living in Paris for most of the year.  In December 1899 he returned to Paris to join Augusta Preitinger ("Guus"), whom he had met at the Academy. They wed on July 11, 1901; the would divorce in 1921. He began to exhibit in Paris, including the controversial 1905 exhibition Salon d'Automne, in a room featuring Henri Matisse amongst others. The vivid colors used by this group of artists led to their nickname "Fauves" (i.e., Wild Beasts).
• • Under the influence of Jasmy Jacob, among others, Kees van Dongen developed the lush palette of his Fauvist style along with a bohemian eroticism that accents his earlier artwork. This gained him a solid reputation with the French bourgeoisie, which was profitable.  As a fashionable portraitist his subjects included Arletty, Leopold III of Belgium, Louis Barthou, Sacha Guitry, Anna de Noailles, and Maurice Chevalier. With a playful cynicism, he commented on his popularity as a portraitist of high society women:  "The essential thing is to elongate the women and especially to make them slim. After that it just remains to enlarge their jewels. They are ravished." Another quote attributed to him is "Painting is the most beautiful of lies."
• • In addition to marketing his paintings, Kees van Dongen also earned money by selling satirical sketches to the newspaper 'Revue Blanche' and organizing very successful costume balls in Montparnasse.

• • The "bohemian era" canvasses of Kees Van Dongen
— — see two of his nudes from 1905 and 1906 here — —continue to inspire the playwright.
• • This spirited three-character comedy — — that explores the boundaries between art and artifice — — will make its debut at the 2010 Harvest One-Act Play Festival.  Variations Theatre Group will offer performances between November 10th — 20th, 2010 at the recently renovated LABA Theatre at the 14th Street Y.

— —  — —  —
—  WHO, WHAT, WHEN, WHERE — —  — —  — —

• • First performance dates and times have been announced by Variations Theatre Group for the sprightly one-act comedy "Naked Came the Painting" by LindaAnn Loschiavo.
• • FIRST DATE:  Wednesday, 10 November 2010 — — 7:00 PM
• • SECOND DATE:  Saturday, 13 November 2010 — — 9:15 PM
• • POSSIBLE DATES:  November 18th — 20th.
• • WHERE: LABA Theatre, 344 East 14th Street, NYC 10003.
• • WHAT: 2010 Harvest One-Act Play Festival
• • Subway: Union Square Station/ IRT Lexington, 4, 5, 6; First Avenue Station / L line
• • http://nakedtheatreny.blogspot.com/
• • Source:http://nakedtheatreny.blogspot.com/atom.xml
• • PHONE: 646-400-3253 to get ticket information
• • TICKETS  $15; Buy Tix Online — — http://www.variationstheatregroup.com


— —  — —  —
—  WHO, WHAT, WHEN, WHERE — —  — —  — —

• •  Get "NAKED" onstage in November . . .
• •  http://prlog.org/11021496

Saturday, October 23, 2010

"NAKED" T.D. Is Kathryn Pecota Loggins

The cast for "Naked Came the Painting," a one act comedy by LindaAnn Loschiavo, has been rehearsing during October in Manhattan's theatre district.
• • In the cast are: Lila Smith, Katherine Mylenki, and David A. Green.
• • Shela Xoregos directs.
• • Kathryn Marie Loggins will be Technical Director for the production.  Fluent in German and English, Mrs. Loggins was educated at Northwest University where she earned a B.A. in Communications and Theatre.  She has continued her acting studies at the Terry Schreiber Studio in NYC as well as with Guenther Schaefer at Darstellendes Spiel in Hamburg, Germany.  Recently, the newly-wed served as Stage Manager for the Xoregos Performing Company's production of "Medea" in New York City.  The five-foot-six brunette equestrienne is also an accomplished choral and pop vocalist who enjoys African jazz dance in her spare time.
• • This spirited three-character comedy — — that explores the boundaries between art and artifice — — will make its debut at the 2010 Harvest One-Act Play Festival.  Variations Theatre Group will offer performances between November 10th — 20th, 2010 at the recently renovated LABA Theatre at the 14th Street Y.

— —  — —  — —  WHO, WHAT, WHEN, WHERE — —  — —  — —
• • First performance dates and times have been announced by Variations Theatre Group for the sprightly one-act comedy "Naked Came the Painting" by LindaAnn Loschiavo.
• • FIRST DATE:  Wednesday, 10 November 2010 — — 7:00 PM
• • SECOND DATE:  Saturday, 13 November 2010 — — 9:15 PM
• • POSSIBLE DATES:  November 18th — 20th.
• • WHERE: LABA Theatre, 344 East 14th Street, NYC 10003.
• • WHAT: 2010 Harvest One-Act Play Festival
• • Subway: Union Square Station/ IRT Lexington, 4, 5, 6; First Avenue Station / L line
• • http://nakedtheatreny.blogspot.com/
• • Source:http://nakedtheatreny.blogspot.com/atom.xml
• • PHONE: 646-400-3253 to get ticket information
• • TICKETS are $15; Buy Tix Online — — http://www.variationstheatregroup.com

Friday, October 22, 2010

Harvest Fest Honcho Gets "NAKED" at ART/NY on October 21st

The cast for "Naked Came the Painting," a one act comedy by LindaAnn Loschiavo, has been rehearsing during October in Manhattan's theatre district.
• • In the cast are: Lila Smith, Katherine Mylenki, and David A. Green.
• • Shela Xoregos directs.
• • Last night the theatre-buffs who founded Variations Theatre Group launched their first 2010 Harvest One-Act Play Festival with a cordial meet and greet session at ART/NY at 520 Eighth Avenue in midtown.  More than twenty dramatists attended along with several T.D.s, stagehands, as well as a few distinguished directors such as Shela Xoregos.
• • Rich Ferraioli and Kirk Gostkowski, company co-founders and artistic directors, met as students in the Hofstra University theatre department, where they began to they began to develop a minimalist approach to theatre. After graduation, the two refined their aesthetic in productions seen throughout the New York area. By 2010, they believed it was time to start a company based on their ideas.
• • Rich Ferraioli explained that Variations Theatre Group, Inc. was founded with the principle belief that theatre is meant to be challenging, engaging, and should push the boundaries of audience expectations. In VTG productions, the text and the actor are the most important thing; spectacle isn’t allowed to distract from the intentions of the playwright and performers. The company will give emerging artists the opportunity to work on the classic American plays that audiences have come to love, but in productions reinvigorated by the distinct VTG style. Time will also be devoted to the development of original works [such as "Naked Came the Painting"] by playwrights who deserve to be better known.
• • This spirited three-character comedy — — that explores the boundaries between art and artifice — — will make its debut at the 2010 Harvest One-Act Play Festival.  Variations Theatre Group will offer performances between November 10th — 20th, 2010 at the recently renovated LABA Theatre at the 14th Street Y.

— —  — —  — —  WHO, WHAT, WHEN, WHERE — —  — —  — —
• • First performance dates and times have been announced by Variations Theatre Group for the sprightly one-act comedy "Naked Came the Painting" by LindaAnn Loschiavo.
• • FIRST DATE:  Wednesday, 10 November 2010 — — 7:00 PM
• • SECOND DATE:  Saturday, 13 November 2010 — — 9:15 PM
• • POSSIBLE DATES:  November 18th — 20th.
• • WHERE: LABA Theatre, 344 East 14th Street, NYC 10003.
• • WHAT: 2010 Harvest One-Act Play Festival
• • Subway: Union Square Station/ IRT Lexington, 4, 5, 6; First Avenue Station / L line
• • http://nakedtheatreny.blogspot.com/
• • Source:http://nakedtheatreny.blogspot.com/atom.xml
• • PHONE: 646-400-3253 to get ticket information
• • BUY TICKETS Online — — http://www.variationstheatregroup.com

Thursday, October 21, 2010

MEDIA ALERT: "Naked Came the Painting" Debuts 10 November 2010

Selected to appear in the 2010 Harvest One-Act Play Festival, the first performance of "Naked Came the Painting" has been scheduled for 7:00 pm on November 10th at LABA Theatre in Manhattan.  The cast for this short comedy by LindaAnn Loschiavo has been rehearsing during October in Manhattan's theatre district for this USA premiere.
• • In the cast are: Lila Smith, Susanne Nelson, and David A. Green.
• • Shela Xoregos directs.
• • Interviews have been completed and are available for your publication.
• • This spirited three-character comedy — — that explores the boundaries between art and artifice — — will make its debut with several other one-act plays.  Each audience will vote for favorites to continue in competition for the second and third rounds.  Variations Theatre Group will offer performances between November 10th — 20th, 2010 at the recently renovated LABA Theatre at the 14th Street Y.
• • "Get 'NAKED' onstage!" says the cast, suggesting you show up on November 10th — — and vote to get "Naked Came the Painting" onstage for successive showings.

— —  — —  — —  WHO, WHAT, WHEN, WHERE — —  — —  — —
• • First performance dates and times have been announced by Variations Theatre Group for the sprightly one-act comedy "Naked Came the Painting" by LindaAnn Loschiavo.
• • FIRST DATE:  Wednesday, 10 November 2010 — — 7:00 PM
• • SECOND DATE:  Saturday, 13 November 2010 — — 9:15 PM
• • POSSIBLE DATES:  November 18th — 20th.
• • WHERE: LABA Theatre, 344 East 14th Street, NYC 10003.
• • WHAT: 2010 Harvest One-Act Play Festival
• • Subway: Union Square Station/ IRT Lexington, 4, 5, 6; First Avenue Station / L line
• • http://nakedtheatreny.blogspot.com/
• • Source:http://nakedtheatreny.blogspot.com/atom.xml
• • PHONE NUMBER FOR PUBLICATION: 646-400-3253 and to get ticket info
• • BUY TICKETS Online — — http://www.variationstheatregroup.com

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Fezzed for Mayhem in "Naked Came the Painting"

The cast for "Naked Came the Painting," a one act comedy by LindaAnn Loschiavo, has been rehearsing during October in Manhattan's theatre district.
• • In the cast are: Lila Smith, Katherine Mylenki, and David A. Green.
• • Shela Xoregos directs.
• • Handsome David Green, who plays the enthralling psychic Mr. ZIMBATATTA, wears a World War I trench veteran's fez in the play.
• • A Short History of the Fez • •
• • The fez was adopted in 1826 as the universal male headgear in the Ottoman Empire as part of the modernizing reforms of Sultan Mahmud II. Prior to this date, it was worn sporadically in the Maghreb (Northwest Africa) by some units of the Ottoman navy, and by the inhabitants of some Greek islands.
• • Initially a symbol of Ottoman modernity, the fez soon came to be seen as part of an "Oriental" cultural identity. In Turkey, however, wearing the fez was legally banned in 1925 as part of the modernizing reforms of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. The origin of the name is controversial. The Turkish word "fes" may refer to the city of Fez in Morocco, or to the name of the crimson berry, which was imported from that country and was used to dye the felt.
• • The fez was initially a brimless bonnet of red, white, or black with a turban woven around. Later the turban was eliminated, the bonnet shortened, and the color fixed to red.
• • In the Western world, the fez occasionally serves as a symbol of relaxation. In cartoons, characters are shown wearing a fez often while lying in a hammock on vacation or relaxing after a hard day of work. This curious imagery may be a throwback to the late 19th century English practice of men wearing a loose fitting smoking jacket and braided fez-like headdress when relaxing informally in the evenings.
• • Punch cartoons of the period 1875 — 1890 frequently portray middle-class male figures dressed in this fashion. This practice is called "wearing mufti" and came from the habit of British officers and public servants wearing what was then Indian dress in the privacy of their homes. The dress was more comfortable in the Indian climate and created a sense of ease and relaxation such that the clothing, not unlike that of an Islamic scholar or mufti, came into the English language as a word meaning 'out of uniform' or undress.
• • One of the best-known wearings of a fez in a Hollywood film was by Victor Mature, playing Dr. Omar in Josef Von Sternberg's The Shanghai Gesture (1942).
• •  Laurel and Hardy wore fezzes in their film Sons of the Desert, and so the members of the international fraternal organization named after the film wear fezzes in tribute.
• •  The Shriners are notable for wearing fezzes.
• •  A Tarot card, the 7 of Swords, shows a man wearing a red fez.
• • The adjective — —  that refers to an individual who is wearing a brimless cone-shaped flat-crowned hat that usually has a tassel, is usually made of red felt, and is worn especially by men in eastern Mediterranean countries — — is "fezzed."
• • This spirited three-character comedy — — that explores the boundaries between art and artifice — — will make its debut at the 2010 Harvest One-Act Play Festival.  Variations Theatre Group will offer performances between November 10th — 20th, 2010 at the recently renovated LABA Theatre at the 14th Street Y.

— —  — —  — —  WHO, WHAT, WHEN, WHERE — —  — —  — —
• • First performance dates and times have been announced by Variations Theatre Group for the sprightly one-act comedy "Naked Came the Painting" by LindaAnn Loschiavo.
• • FIRST DATE:  Wednesday, 10 November 2010 — — 7:00 PM
• • SECOND DATE:  Saturday, 13 November 2010 — — 9:15 PM
• • POSSIBLE DATES:  November 18th — 20th.
• • WHERE: LABA Theatre, 344 East 14th Street, NYC 10003.
• • WHAT: 2010 Harvest One-Act Play Festival
• • Subway: Union Square Station/ IRT Lexington, 4, 5, 6; First Avenue Station / L line
• • http://nakedtheatreny.blogspot.com/
• • Source:http://nakedtheatreny.blogspot.com/atom.xml
• • PHONE: 646-400-3253 to get ticket information
• • BUY TICKETS Online — — http://www.variationstheatregroup.com