News: Neurodiverse Theater Company Actionplay Present "Total Bummer Summer: A Paranormusical" May 18-19

Actiomplay in rehearsal for Total Bummer Summer: A Paranormusical
You’ve never experienced a summer camp like the one in Actionplay’s new musical Total Bummer Summer: A Paranormusical, which will run for three performances on May 18 – 19, at the Nagelberg Theatre in the Baruch Performing Arts Center. Welcome to Farmer Flood's Fun Camp! It's got canoeing! Obstacle courses! Ghosts! When summer camp is taken over by a fiendish phantom, the campers must work together to unearth the ancient secrets of the campground and save the day. Actionplay is proud to present a truly ghoulish musical, complete with haunted woods, phantasmic possessions, and ghastly dance battles. Bring a brave friend.

The script was devised and created by neurodiverse actors in Actionplay's Action Improv Musical Series (AIMS). The show is directed by Kate Trammell, with music direction and composition by Shane Dittmar, and choreography by Kimberly Hale. Actionplay is now in its 11th year of producing new musicals through their AIMS program. This year, the company consists of 17 actors, ranging in age from 13 - 22, who take on the roles of actors, writers, and creators. The company creates the story and songs through improv and music, starting in the Fall, with the goal of creating a fully original musical in the Spring. The show is created around the actor’s interests and improvisations.

Actionplay was founded in 2011, and in 2013 it started holding regular classes/workshops and producing an annual new work. The company is dedicated to providing autistic, neurodivergent, and disabled teens and young adults equal access to the theatre-making process.

The company’s founder and Executive Director, Aaron Feinstein shared his thoughts on this year’s production: “Actionplay just celebrated our 10th anniversary and I’m excited to kick off our next 10 years with this new show, which will be our 9th original musical!” He went on to say, “Over the past decade, we’ve worked with over 200 neurodivergent performers in NYC, held numerous audition and self-advocacy workshops, and provided mentorships to countless performers who are currently performing in everything from off-off Broadway to Broadway. Two of our actors made their Broadway debut in How to Dance in Ohio. The end of the season performance is one of my favorite parts of the season and I couldn’t be more proud of this year's AIMS company members. Actionplay shows are always a celebration, so come out and celebrate new talent and a more inclusive world!”

The cast features Shayaan Aman, Alan Basiev, Preston Burger, Grace Cerritos, Daniel Chaikelson, Charlie DeWitt, Sam Drezner, Lev Garfein, Kim Hale, Sammy Hecht, Emily Kendall, Mikey Lorch, Havelock McGrouther, Max Moore, Lexi Spindel, Nicholas Tangney, and Jerry Velez.

The creative and production team includes assistant musical director Patrik Gelbart, script supervisor Jackson Tucker-Meyer, costume design by Elizabeth DeSole, assistant costume design by Adelaide DeSole, lighting design by Annie Wiegand, scenic and prop design by Federica Borlenghi, sound design by Jackson Tucker-Meyer, projection design by Grant Duffrin, with stage management by Averil Carr. The production is produced by Actionplay under the direction of Executive Director Aaron Feinstein.

Performances take place on Saturday, May 18 at 7:30pm, and Sunday, May 19 at 2pm and 7pm at the Nagelberg Theatre in Baruch College Performing Arts Center, 55 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY 10010 (enter from 25th Street, between Lexington and 3rd Avenue). Tickets are $30 for general admission and $15 for accessible seating and are available at https://tinyurl.com/ActionplaySummer. 

The show runs 75 minutes.

www.instagram.com/actionplayarts

www.facebook.com/actionplayarts

www.twitter.com/actionplayarts

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Review: The Immersive "American Blues: 5 Short Plays by Tennessee Williams" Takes Audiences on a Marvelously Crafted Journey

Image
American Blues: 5 Short Plays by Tennessee Williams Written by Tennessee Williams Directed by Jim Niesen Presented by the Irondale Ensemble Project at The Space at Irondale 85 South Oxford St., Brooklyn, NYC October 27-November 26, 2023 Shadenia Savid in Moony's Kids Don't Cry . Photo by Natasha Rotondaro In 1948, Tennessee Williams published American Blues , a collection of five one-act plays, and a remarkable new production of this collection by Brooklyn's Irondale shows that these works have lost none of their power to both entertain and challenge audiences in the intervening three-quarters of a century. Comprising plays written in the decade between 1936 and 1946 - Moony's Kids Don't Cry (1936); The Dark Room (1939); The Case of the Crushed Petunias (1941); The Long Stay Cut Short, or, the Unsatisfactory Supper (1946); and Ten Blocks on the Camino Real (1946) - American Blues represents the second part of Irondale's American Century, the first install
Read more

Review: "How To Eat an Orange" Cuts into the Life of an Argentine Artist and Activist

Image
How To Eat an Orange Written by Catherine Filloux Based on the writing of Claudia Bernardi Directed by Elena Araoz Presented by La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club at The Downstairs at La MaMa 66 E 4th St., Manhattan, NYC May 30-June 16, 2024 Paula Pizzi. Photo by Steven Pisano How To Eat an Orange , making its world premiere at La MaMa, does in fact include a real orange as a prop, and its multifarious symbolizations–evoking at different points cultural specificity, family history, matriarchal inheritance, and even a skull–are representative of the play's boundary-blurring, non-linear presentation of memory. The memories in question belong to visual artist, educator, and activist Claudia Bernardi , who lived through several years of her native Argentina's military junta, which held power from 1976 to 1983, before departing her country and eventually settling in the United States. How To Eat an Orange , from Catherine Filloux, a French Algerian American award-winning playwright,
Read more

Review: From Child Pose to Stand(ing) Up: "Yoga with Jillian" and "Penguin in Your Ear" at the Women in Theatre Festival

Image
Yoga with Jillian Written by Lia Romeo Directed by Andrew W. Smith Presented by Project Y Theatre and Richard Jordan Productions in association with The Pleasance June 2-17, 2023 Penguin in Your Ear Written and performed by Eliza Bent Directed by Jess Barbagallo June 10, 2023 Part of the Women in Theatre Festival , presented by Project Y Theatre at A.R.T./New York Theatres Michole Biancosino. Photo courtesy of Project Y Theatre This June, Project Y Theatre Company presents the eighth annual installment of its Women in Theatre Festival (WIT), which showcases new work by women and maintains "more than 50% female representation of all artists involved." This year, the festival includes a lobby installation project, titled In the Betweens , from scenic designer Chen-Wei Liao, through which audience members pass on their way into the theater proper. One first chooses first between "light" and "dark" rooms and then moves into "the gardens" before re
Read more