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NICK AT NIGHT Staged Reading

Last night, Darknight Productions presented a staged reading of my seven short plays from my DREAM FRAGMENTS anthology under the catchy title NICK AT NIGHT. The readings took place at the wonderful Next Stage Theater in Manhatten and was attended by an enthusiastic audience.

Thanks to Tom Clancy and Kevin Clancy for coordinating the evening.

It's always amazing to see what different actors bring to different roles. George Domenick's southern twang as Poppa Grimm in "Wicked Stepmothers Cult" was both charming and chilling, and his endearing performance as the old Boris in "Elevator of Life" made even my fiance Juliana fall in love with the character (up until last night, she thought "Elevator" was the weakest link in my anthology, but after the reading, she was raving about it).

Tal Aviezer, as always, brought energy to each role he played, portraying two larger-than-life characters with believability and true emotion. His performances as Charlie Nova in "Jackie the Giant Killer" and Josh in "Love is For Suckers" will always be burned in my memory.

Jennifer Cohen was wonderful to watch as Jackie, giving one of my favorite characters some real emotional intensity. And she and Adrienne Makowski had great chemistry as Dori and Alli in "Shopkeeper of Lost Dreams." And Mary Gaffney was wonderful as the cryptic Shopkeeper. They really got the audience to connect with them, despite what I thought would be the most challenging play to perform.

Anthony Monaco was terrific too. I hope to see him do some more acting. He has a genuine charm and youthful vitality that fit the character of Greg in "Wicked Stepmothers" perfectly.

Vinny Albanese amazes me. He's a true talent. He brings a dynamic energy to each role he plays, whether it's Frankie Boy in "Love is For Suckers" or Gene in "Elevator," or the Devil in the 2002 reading of "To Forgive Divine." I hope to see more of him onstage in the future.

Speaking of "Divine," I really enjoyed the performances of John Simmons and Mary Gaffney. They took my admittedly flawed metaphorical fantasy play and made it real for me. I hope that in whatever future incarnation "To Forgive Divine" might be after some more revisions, whatever future actors play the roles of God and the Devil will be able to recreate the heartfelt moments that John and Mary brought to the stage last night. I wrote the characters with the intent that they can be played by any gender, any age, but after seeing the reading, I love the interplay between mother and son that Mary and John brought to the roles.

And finally, big thanks to Kevin Clancy and Adrienne Makowski for making "Lunacy Park" everything I imagined it could be. Some of those line readings really tugged at my heartstrings. My sister Elizabeth loved each play but was particularly lauding the performances of Kevin and Adrienne in "Lunacy Park."

All I can say is thank you again for fleshing out these crazy little stories of mine and bringing them to life.

Looking forward to whatever Darknight Productions has lined up next!
posted by Nick at 11:06 AM [edit]

DREAM FRAGMENTS

My anthology of short stage plays will be performed as a staged reading Tuesday night, June 28, at the New Stage theater in Manhattan. I hope some of you get a chance to check it out. More good things to come. The plays included in the anthology are: "Lunacy Park," "Love is For Suckers," "Wicked Stepmothers Cult," "Jackie the Giant Killer," "Shopkeeper of Lost Dreams," "Riding the Elevator of Life," and "To Forgive Divine." My linking storyline, although completed, will not be included in this particular reading, but hopefully will be on stage soon, maybe in a production at Center Stage Playhouse sometime in February 2006. Also, "Jackie the Giant Killer" will hopefully be performed as part of another anthology in August called "To Die Four."
posted by Nick at 4:53 PM [edit]