Blogging About: Caralie Chrisco in Plus 1 Solo Show Festival

Tongue in Cheek Theater's November 2014 Plus 1 Solo Show Festival runs for 2 performances, from Sunday-Monday, November 2-3, 2014 at 8 pm.  All shows are at The Bridge Theatre @ Shetler Studios, 244 West 54th Street, 12th Floor in midtown NYC.  Tickets are $20 at www.tictheater.com and by calling 212-868-4444.

We are thrilled to welcome to the festival Caralie Chrisco, performing her original piece Just Leave Me Here. We asked the hilarious Caralie about her inspirations.

What inspired you to create your piece?
I used to read fitness magazines while sitting around drinking beer. I was obsessed with personal transformations but only as an onlooker. Now I'm healthier and active but getting there has had wonky moments of loneliness and frustration. I wanted to talk about how making the "best" choices can be positive but there are still moments of longing for whiskey and bad decisions.  

Where are you from and when did you come to NYC?
I'm from Lake Charles, Louisiana and never knew how proud of that I was until I left. Now I'm all fleur de lis and WHO DAT about it. I moved to NYC in 2008 at the height of economic crisis. I couldn't get a job anywhere (places I got rejected from include Planet Hollywood, American Eagle, and Shake Shack, the list goes on). I finally got a job hosting at a restaurant with pink couches and fedora-wearing servers. In the Times Review it noted when asked which wines were available the server said "red and white". This establishment has since closed.

Tell us a funny story about a time you saved the day or failed miserably onstage.

I played Major Barbara in a musical version (yep). Running time was 3 hours and were accompanied by midi tracks. There was a narrator who would state the obvious throughout the show..."Barbara is reading a book." ...really necessary stuff. The whole cast knew how bad it was and hated it until we realized we had comedy gold on our hands a la Waiting for Guffman. Once the writer/director stopped showing up, we camped it up, had a blast and got huge laughs. I had a few friends see it more than once.

If you like great storytelling and music, you're in for a treat with the talented artists in our 12th Plus 1 Solo Show Festival, so get your tickets here and catch the following pieces and musical guest Ellia Bisker of Sweet Soubrette:

Social Studies by Elizabeth Phillips 
How far would you go to make history?

Home by Karen Elliott 
A woman's on-going search to find home leads her to unexpected places. 

Just Leave Me Here by Caralie Chrisco 
If you’ve given up all vices to no big prize, should you stop doing burpees and go back to burgers? 

New Year's Eve Party Crash by Dale Davidson 
The biggest party of the year entails facing your fears.