Q&A with Miranda Jonte, writer/performer in Plus One Solo Show Fest (April 7&8)!

Our 2013 season starts this week! Hurrah!

Starting Thursday, The Mistakes Madeline Made runs for 7 performances, April 4-6 and 10-13 (Tickets). During the dark nights of Madeline, we feature 4 solo shows and a singer/songwriter with our ninth Plus One Solo Show Festival, April 7-8 (Tickets).  All shows are $18, begin at 8 pm, and run at The Bridge Theatre @ Shetler Studios (244 West 54th Street, 12th Floor, NYC).

Jaunty? Jonte!

We chatted with actor and playwright Miranda Jonte about her newest piece, St. Francis, an excerpt of which is premiering in our Plus One Festival this coming weekend.

Give me your best elevator speech about your show: who, what, where, when? 
St. Francis is about a veterinarian who runs a no-kill animal shelter in the Pacific Northwest which is in danger of shuttering. She's out of options, struggling to maintain her sobriety, and approaches a family member with whom she has a rocky history for financial help.

What inspired you to write your piece?
After my mom died, my family went through a great deal of turmoil. Relationships changed, alliances shifted. Bizarre things happened. I began to need to write a piece in order to deal with it. Thus, St. Francis was born.

How did you come up with your title? 
St. Francis is the patron saint of animals. The character is a woman whose mission is to save these animals, and she goes to great lengths and extremes to do so. It popped into my head at one point and I never had another idea for a title after that!

Editor's note: Miranda Jonte's funny and smart play about the mechanics of love, Greasemonkey, is transferring to Chicago later this year!  For more on that show, please visit www.greasemonkey.weebly.com.

A Pre-Show Intermission (in Prague!)

We have a big week ahead, with the start of our 2013 season:

The Mistakes Madeline Made (Thur 4/4-Sat 4/6 & Wed 4/10-Sat 4/13).  Tickets

Spring Plus One Solo Show Festival (Sun 4/7 and Mon 4/8).  Tickets

Normally the weekend before we load into the theater, I am fretting, buying last minute props and rehearsing transitions.  Happily, this time around I'm taking a sort of pre-show intermission.

Czech's answer to TIC's mascot, Harold.

Composer and TIC sound designer (and my husband) Philip Rothman is working this weekend in Prague, working with  a composer and a Czech orchestra to record music for a feature-length documentary, and he invited me along.  I was just over at the concert hall watching them record, and it was a pretty cool sight to behold.

And then I wandered off, down a cobblestone street, admiring the art nouveau architecture and eventually settling in at a cafe to drink an enormous cup of coffee and people watch.  Tomorrow we fly back and Tuesday, we'll be loading in, focusing lights and tech-ing our shows.  So I am going to enjoy every last minute of this trip.

Hope wherever you are this Sunday, you are taking a break and enjoying your respective holidays.  Can't wait to see you later this week at our shows!

Q&A with Allison Lemel (assistant director, 'The Mistakes Madeline Made')

Over the coming weeks, we're featuring interviews with artists in our spring productions.

Our main stage show, The Mistakes Madeline Made by Elizabeth Meriwether, opens Thursday, April 4 and runs for 7 performances, April 4-6 and 10-13 at 8 pm at The Bridge Theatre @ Shetler Studios (244 West 54 Street, 12th floor, NYC). Tickets are $18 online or by calling 212-868-4444.

Lemel est la meilleure.

Behind every great production is an exceptionally organized person calling the shots.  For more than 11 productions to date (and 2 more to debut in April!), Allison Lemel has been that resource for Tongue in Cheek: stage managing, lighting and costume designing, and assistant-directing (including our sold-out and critically-acclaimed Our Town in October 2012).

We asked Allison what she's working on in addition to The Mistakes Madeline Made and the Spring 2013 Plus One Solo Show Festival.

Tell me what you've been up to (in addition to running rehearsals of The Mistakes Madeline Made)?
I just completed writing my one-woman show, Places, Please.  It's about all my experiences (both funny and strange) in the world of stage management.  I am in the midst of submitting it to festivals in NYC and am also working on completing a full-length screenplay.

What's your favorite play?
My favorite play is Our Town.  I was so excited to assistant direct TIC's production in October 2012.  I remember when I first read it in college, and the thing that first caught my eye was the narrator role, which is called 'The Stage Manager.'  I love how heartwarming the story is, and how it can be related to small town life, or even big city life.  It's a timeless piece.


You've now stage managed 8 of our 9 Plus One Solo Show Festivals.  What kind of solo shows do you like, and why?
When looking at the solo shows I've seen, I always love when the performer is telling me their story, and making it personal: when the performer takes you along for the ride, it makes great theater.

Q&A with Shelley Little (Edna in 'The Mistakes Madeline Made')

Over the coming weeks, we're featuring interviews with artists in our spring productions.

Our main stage show, The Mistakes Madeline Made by Elizabeth Meriwether, opens Thursday, April 4 and runs for 7 performance, April 4-6 and 10-13 at 8 pm at The Bridge Theatre @ Shetler Studios (244 West 54 Street, 12th floor, NYC). Tickets are $18 online or by calling 212-868-4444.

Shelley seeks Fresh Naps.

Fresh off of rave reviews for her "sensational" Emily in Our Town (TIC's fall 2012 production), we asked actress Shelley Little for her two cents on our spring production, in which she also stars.

Tell me about your role in The Mistakes Madeline Made.
I play Edna, a recent college grad trying to find her place in the world.  She's funny, smart and a little psychotic.  I'm loving it.

Nearly all the characters in the show are writers. What's your favorite book?
The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson.  It's a novel about a North Korean Everyman.  Get it.  But if you aren't in love in ten pages, ditch it.  It's not for you.

The Mistakes Madeline Made involves a handiwipe caper. Which of the following terms is your favorite, and why? Handiwipe, wet nap or moist towelette?
At my current bartending gig, we have "Fresh Naps."  I just love that.  It might be because whenever I'm there, I'd rather be taking a nap.  Hmn.

Q&A with Joe Mullen (Drake/Jake/Blake in 'The Mistakes Madeline Made')

Over the coming weeks, we're featuring interviews with artists in our spring productions.

Our main stage show, The Mistakes Madeline Made by Elizabeth Meriwether, opens Thursday, April 4 and runs for 7 performance, April 4-6 and 10-13 at 8 pm at The Bridge Theatre @ Shetler Studios (244 West 54 Street, 12th floor, NYC).  Tickets are $18 online or by calling 212-868-4444.

Joe Mullen loves BBQ.

We quizzed the talented and tall actor Joe Mullen about his roles in the show. 

Tell me about your role in The Mistakes Madeline Made.
I play three pompous and regrettable one-night stands, Blake, Jake, and Drake, who all date the play's protagonist, Edna.

What's your favorite moment or line in the production?
My favorite moment is when the office manager character, Beth, says about the character of Wilson (played by A.J. Heekin), "I heard he's from Florida!," because A.J. is really from Florida.

My favorite line is: "The erection is an object that defies all logic, like a Cheeto."

You play a string of writers in this show.  What's your favorite book?
What Makes Sammy Run by Budd Schulberg.  It's an American classic with great characters.

There's a meticulously prepared snack bag in the show.  Describe what your ideal snack bag would contain.
BBQ chips, can of Dr. Pepper... maybe some carrot sticks to keep it healthy.

Have you a credo, Mr. Mullen?
Suit the action to the word, the word to the action.

The Mistakes Madeline Made involves a handiwipe caper.  Which of the following terms is your favorite, and why?  Handiwipe, wet nap or moist towelette?
Wet naps!  Makes me think of BBQ ribs.

Q&A with Brock H. Hill (director, 'The Mistakes Madeline Made')

Over the coming weeks, we're featuring interviews with artists in our spring productions.

Our main stage show, The Mistakes Madeline Made by Elizabeth Meriwether, opens Thursday, April 4 and runs for 7 performances, April 4-6 and 10-13 at 8 pm at The Bridge Theatre @ Shetler Studios (244 West 54 Street, 12th floor, NYC). Tickets are $18 online or by calling 212-868-4444.

Now on his 5th (count it, 5th!) production with Tongue in Cheek, director Brock H. Hill weighs in on his latest collaboration with TIC.

Brick-a-Brock.

The Mistakes Madeline Made is a play about writers.  What are you reading right now?
I read super-geeky stuff, I take pride in that.  I'm currently reading a Star Wars series...

An afternoon snack is meticulously prepared in the play.  Describe your perfect snack.
I basically have a daily snack as it is: an apple, a yogurt, a granola bar and sometimes a banana.

Pick a wipe, any wipe: handiwipe, wet nap, or moist towelette?
The handiwipe, at least as we see it in this play, is a good size and most useful. 

[Editor's Note: it is the opinion of this blogess that Mr. Hill may be needing some handiwipes over the summer for the upcoming debut of his next, er, life-changing production.  'Nuff said.] 

Q&A with Jeremy Patrick Hamilton (Buddy in 'The Mistakes Madeline Made')

Over the coming weeks, we're featuring interviews with artists in our spring productions.

Our main stage show, The Mistakes Madeline Made by Elizabeth Meriwether, opens Thursday, April 4 and runs for 7 performance, April 4-6 and 10-13 at 8 pm at The Bridge Theatre @ Shetler Studios (244 West 54 Street, 12th floor, NYC). Tickets are $18 online or by calling 212-868-4444.

We asked Jeremy Patrick Hamilton a few seriously funny questions and got some deep thoughts out of him.  Yeah!

Tell me about your role in The Mistakes Madeline Made.
I play Buddy, the older brother of the lead character, Edna.  Buddy's a journalist just back from his first "big trip" to the Middle East.  His reality takes place two years prior to the other characters' reality in the play.  He's dealing with coming back to the U.S. after seeing first-hand the kinds of atrocities that most of us turn away from with shock and horror.  He's a man who has seen too much and it now defines him.  But instead of running away, he's ready to run back into the fire.

Buddy has the bathtub blues.

What's your favorite moment or line from the show, and why?
BUDDY: Once, I tried to get into my car and there was a dead child on my windsheild.  The guy I was with was like, Hey, it's raining kids.  I was so wasted that there were two seconds where I was like, wait, is it?"

Wow, this is my favorite line?!?!  I suppose it is because it gives you the state of mind and personal perspective that defines Buddy.  He's neither cold nor callous, but rather numb to the astonishingly surreal (yet actually real) world of warfare.  He is a walking/talking casualty of war.

What's a quotation or maxim you/your character lives by?

"Sal, we gotta go and never stop going 'till we get there."
'Where we going, man?'
"I don't know, but we gotta go."
-- Jack Kerouac, On the Road