Help Yourself

Our current production, Books on Tape, (running in the New York International Fringe Festival with two remaining show Sat 8/27 @ 7 pm and Sun 8/28 @ 1:15 pm), explores New Yorkers' search for meaning and love in the big city.  Donna Paige Miller, a character in the play, is an accomplished self-help writer and self-declared guru.   Curious about the real-life counterparts to our four characters, we caught up with Matt Prager, a New York-based therapist and self-help author, to hear how all this self help works.

TIC: How did you get interested in the world of self-help?
MP: I had a whole other career working in Hollywood and, believe it or not, talking to people about their problems was kind of my relaxation on the weekends.  I was office shrink in every job I had and, out of the necessities of work (Hollywood is completely nuts when it comes to leadship and group dynamics issues), I started doing executive coaching and leadership.  Ultimately, I decided to make my hobby my career and went back to grad school.

 

TIC: If you had to boil down your philosophy on therapy, what are the big themes?

New Age-y as this may sounds, my fundamental belief is that the answers to all your issues are inside you and that it's a therapist's job to help you find those answers, not give you those answers.  I am violently against the notion of therapists giving advice - "yes, you tell your boyfriend how you really feel - then eat that cupcake 'cause you deserve it!"  Therapy is about handing you the tools to make your own decisions.  Put another way, our childhoods often result in our being on emotional short circuits, e.g. "I feel wronged therefore I get angry"; therapy is there to help you break those short circuits so you can make decisions based on the adult you are now as opposed to the person you were back then.

 

TIC: Any recent success stories?

Success is in the eyes of the client, not me, and, barring the occassions where a client references having used a tool I gave them, the only time I really know I'm successful is when therapy terminates (it's like a rock power ballad - you only know they love you when they leave <smile>).

 

For more words of wisdom from Matt Prager, check out www.ThisOrProzac.com (including his pithy-titled oeuvre of self-help books) and his Grand Online Dating Experiment http://www.datingnancyp.com/. 

A wonderful week in review!

Our first three shows of Books on Tape have gone off beautifully in the New York International Fringe Festival (with two more coming up on August 27 @ 7 pm and 28 @ 1:15 pm).

Some high points:

A sold out crowd for opening night, followed by boisterous drinks at Dorian Gray bar across the street with playwright Bill Downs, who flew in for our Fringe debut and New York City premiere of his work.

A stellar review on NYTheatre.com:
"Playwright William Missouri Downs has given us a well-balanced tale.  ...Director Brock H. Hill has made desperate into funny.  Jake Lipman (Adriane) is as charming as she is needy.  Nate Washburn (Jeffrey) is amusing, as even an actor he cannot play along with the absurdity of his lovers.  Geoffrey J.D. Payne (Father Larry) is convincing as the ultimate yes-man.  Shana Wiersum's Donna Paige Miller is so self-centered she is ready to sue Kitty Kelley for writing her unauthorized biography--hysterical!"

Wonderful audiences who have praised the underlying message of the show, its witty script and strong ensemble.

Please tell your friends to come see Books on Tape and be sure to vote for us as FringeNYC Audience Favorite.  Thank you to all who have come out to support us!

Over the moon on our opening night!

It's not quite midnight after our opening night, and what an opening it was.

Backstage, before we opened, the actors were buzzing around nervously and excitedly. We knew we were sold out, and that the playwright was coming, but you never know how a show is really going to go until it's on its feet for the first time.

From an opening bit where a voice over artist narrates, the audience exploded with laughter.  Onstage, it felt like a laugh track, turned up full blast.  It didn't even seem real, to be honest.  But it was intoxicating.

The show flew by, and as we took our bows, it was a tremendous feeling to see 99 happy faces smiling back at us.

Thank you to our talented playwright, cast, and all who came.  We could not do this without you (and a very special thanks to the unsung heroes: our crew, who toiled in the booth at tech and at every run to make our show run seamlessly).

Please tell your friends to come to our remaining 4 shows:

Friday 8/19 at 4:45 pm
Saturday 8/20 at 5 pm
Saturday 8/27 at 7 pm
Sunday 8/28 at 1:15 pm

www.tictheater.com/tickets

Venue Director Kathryn Stephens

On load-in day a few weeks ago, I was fortunate enough to chat with the FringeNYC venue director for the Connelly Theater, Kathryn Stephens, to find out what drives her to volunteer at this festival and what she has going on after August.

Originally from Brooklyn/The Bronx, Kathryn majored in theater at Stony Brook University on Long Island.  She traveled to London, where she worked on the International Youth Arts Festival.  As the sole person running the festival production office, she learned the ins and outs of that festival in no time.  Intriguingly, the International Youth Arts Festival is entirely comprised of artistically-minded folks under the age of 26.

Kathryn said she heard about the New York International Fringe Festival earlier this year from a friend who was submitting a show, and she was inspired to apply to run a venue.  As all the Venue #7 shows can attest, Kathryn kept load in and tech running smoothly, and we all thank her for that.

Now that the festival is underway, she is the eyes and the ears of the theater.  This fall, she departs for London to earn an MFA in Culture Policy and Management from the City University of London.  Her goal is to come back to the U.S. and start her own festival.  Stay tuned to see what this talented New Yorker has in store for us next!