Heather Bagnall's singlemarriedgirl gets its NYC debut at The Spiral Theatre Studio 7/18-21

As The Spiral Theatre Studio comes to the end of its first year, it is excited to present a New York City debut, when Heather Bagnall and her company, Tasty Monster Productions, bring Heather's one woman show singlemarriedgirl to the Big Apple. Check out the performance details on the website here. 

Martin Halpern's NO MOVES BACK at The Spiral Theatre Studio June 13-30 (NYC)

This will be the fourth play in the Spiral's Salt & Pepper Series. 

In an out-of the-way corner of Brooklyn’s Prospect Park, Morrie and Alan, two retired Jewish classical musicians in their seventies, are playing one of many chess matches they have played over their long friendship. But Morrie has sunk into a deep depression, and has lost all interest in the game, in his music, and in life itself. Alan, a determined optimist, tries to pull Morrie out of his depression, but with little success. 

Into this situation come five other characters who affect them in contrasting ways. 

By the end of the play, all the other characters having departed, Morrie and Alan are left to reflect on these encounters and on their future relationship. What they arrive at, after a struggle, is a new beginning, in which Morrie will work his way toward enjoying both chess and music again in the company of his life-long, life-affirming friend. 

To learn more about the cast, the Spiral Theatre Studio, and to buy tickets, please click here.

AEA Showcase with : Peter Levine*, William Shuman , Amanda Gae Miller, Joseph Monge, Yanelba Roldan, Clover St. Claire, *Appearing courtesy of Actor's Equity

The Spiral Theatre Studio Summer Workshop

Artistic Director Paula J Riley will be offering an 8-week summer workshop for writers, directors, and actors at Manhattan's most innovative studio from May 26th through June 18th. Five writers and five directors will choose their cast from 15 actors for a 30-minute one-act play. Costs: Actors $500.00, Writers and Directors $600.00. For more information, please contact Paula directly at paula@pjrileystudios.com. 

Fengar Gael's DEVIL DOG SIX opens TODAY at The Spiral Theatre Studio (NYC)

To purchase tickets, please click here.

Robert F Benjamin's WRINKLES up next at The Spiral, Friday 10/25 (NYC)

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The Spiral Theatre Studio is very excited to be opening our second show Friday, October 25th. 

WRINKLES is an evening of seven short plays about aging with grace, humor and courage by New Mexico playwright Robert Benjamin, originally produced under the title Salt & Pepper. 

The Spiral Theatre Studio has spent our first year spotlighting playwrights, actors and directors over 60. The role of artists in this demographic in the American theatre is seriously changing as lifespans increase. Maybe it takes 30 or 40 years to figure this thing called "theatre" out, both artistically and politically. In that case, 60 is the new 20. AND if YOU are over 60 and still kicking butt theatrically, please contact me and share your story. 

Jaz Dorsey 

Managing Director

Dramaturg

The Spiral Theatre Studio 

242 W. 36th Street 3rd Floor In Paul Michael's The Network 

Only 6 performances left of Ted Swindley's STORIES MY GRANDMOTHER TOLD ME at the Spiral Theatre Studio (NYC)

To buy tickets, please click here.

Starting a theatre can be like running a red light. Don't put on the brakes - step on the gas!

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Just a little over a year ago, my associate, Dave Copeland, sent me some information on a theatre project in NYC - The Spiral Theatre Studio.

I took one look at the fascinating Spiral stage and contacted the founder/artistic director, Paula J. Riley. I threw a few ideas at her of steps that might expedite her mission and, after a few emails, she asked me to join the team as Managing Director. Wanting to keep my dramaturgy hat on, I signed on to do both.

Three weeks ago we moved into our home at 242 W. 36th Street. Last Friday night, we kicked off our company with STORIES MY GRANDMOTHER TOLD ME by Nashville playwright Ted Swindley, who is best known for his internationally acclaimed play ALWAYS....PATSY CLINE.

I can't begin to express how exciting it is to open with a new work by a playwright of Mr. Swindley's stature - and a play which also gives me a chance to honor the memory of my own Southern grandmother, Lena Hand Callaway, who made sure that I got not just a good education, but an extraordinary one.

In addition to the expected challenges of starting a theatre, we had to build the Spiral stage, which can be seen on our website www.thespiralthearestudio.com.

The stage was built in Nashville by David Allds, Steve Alberts and David's sons. But then we had to transport the stage to NYC, which proved incredibly frustrating on many levels, but was finally achieved with the support of actors in the cast of STORIES, who were anxious to get to rehearse on the stage.

Thanks to Carolyn German and the Metro Nashville Parks Theatre Department's new play reading series, we have been able to do developmental work on our first two shows, STORIES MY GRANDMOTHER TOLD ME by Mr. Swindley, and the SALT and PEPPER plays of New Mexico playwright Robert Benjamin, which opens with its new title, WRINKLES, on October 20th.

The stage itself is the legacy of Paula J. Riley's mentor and acting teacher, Russian born Iza Itkin, whose father, David, was a founder of The Goodman Theater in Chicago and whose sister, Bella, was also a renowned 20th century acting coach.

Both the modular units and the stage floor are carpeted, and again we were blessed by the support of Mohawk Carpets, who donated the $10,000.00 in carpet needed to do this and, in so doing, became our first corporate sponsor.

And of course, we wanted a home in Midtown Manhattan, which we have, thanks to Paul Michael's The Network at 242 W. 36th Street.

We have spent the first half of 2013 producing a new play reading series that has focused on playwrights, actors and directors over 60 and can already boast a handsome gallery of Spiral posters thanks to our graphic designer, Steve Hill.

And a really special thanks to our actors! You know who you are!

As dramaturge, I am excited to have somewhere to go with the incredible network of playwrights and new plays that I have developed since pionneering the graduate dramaturgy program at VCU in 1978 - especially the amazing library of new African American plays that have come my way since founding The African American Playwrights Exchange in 2007.

Being on the team of a New York City theatre company with a home in Manhattan has got to be the dream. Pinch me!

Come to the Spiral and Go to the Theatre! (It's in our DNA).

Jaz Dorsey

Managing Director/Dramaturge

The Spiral Theatre Studio

242 W. 36th Street

Spiral Stage inches closer to reality

Spiral Stage modular units

The carpeted (Thanks, Mohawk!) modular units that embody The Spiral Theatre Studio are completed and waiting shipment from Nashville to NYC for the theatre's first production, Ted Swindley's Stories My Grandmother Told Me (Opening 9/27). Built in Nashville by David Allds and Steve Alberts, the signature components of the Spiral Stage may be the most eco-friendly of its kind, going as far as using wood cut from a sawmill powered by a... horse (see video below).

Spiral Theatre Studio 

242 W. 36th Street 

NYC 

Paula J. Riley 

Artistic Director

Jaz Dorsey

Managing Director

Dramaturge

A Satie Souvenir 8/23 (NYC)

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Song and dance in honor of Eric Satie to benefit The Sprial Theatre Studio at The Metropolitan Room in NYC, Friday, August 23rd at 6pm. A little about the man can be found here. Please click here to order tickets.

GONNE/YEATS - A Literary Cabaret 6/15 (NYC)

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GONNE - BUT NOT FORGOTTEN 

It's been a while since I had a play produced, so I am naturally excited by the NYC premiere of GONNE/YEATS - a literary cabaret which is a collaboration between myself and St. Louis playwright Dennis Corcoran. 

The purpose of GONNE/YEATS is to introduce the world to Maud Gonne. 

Maud is known as the St. Joan of Ireland, though for our purposes here in the US, it might be more effective to align her with Angela Davis. 

GONNE/YEATS explores Maud through the eyes of Irish poet W. B. Yeats (winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1923), who is said to have written over 800 poems either to or about her - not to mention proposing to her five times over their life times - and eventually getting so frustrated that he proposed to her daughter! 

A story worthy of a Katherine Hepburn/Spencer Tracey movie, and there is a movie to be made here. 

Our cast features JR Robinson and Maryanna Principe as Mr. Yeats and Ms. Gonne. Thanks to my collaborator's knowledge of Irish music, we are weaving in a bit of music, which will be performed by Vocalist Jessica Kaufman and Violinist Amelia Meena. 

Spiral Theatre Studio's Artistic Director, Paula J. Riley, will bring a narrative voice to the cabaret in the persona of Countess Constance Markievicz, Maud's great ally in the women's voice for Irish Independence.

GONNE/YEATS fuses the poetry of Yeats with the writings of Gonne. 

For details and to make a reservation, go to www.metropolitanroom.com and search the calendar for Saturday, June 15 at 4:00 pm. 

BTW - June 13 is Mr. Yeats' 148th birthday, so this is a bit of a birthday party as well! 

Jaz Dorsey 

Dramaturge/Managing Director 

The Spiral Theatre Studio 

www.thespiraltheatrestudio.com

Stage Mothers, where would we be without them?

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I know that I would not have had the opportunity to work with such amazing young actors as Ann-Houston Campbell, Lucy Turner, Audrey Belle or Colin Carswell if it were not for the support and professional cooperation of their moms (and in some case, dads - hey Steve Young!) And blessed is the young actor or actress whose parents value their children's talents enough to drive them to the auditions, rehearsals and performances that will be the building blocks their careers.

Nashville and the surrounding area seem unusually blessed in parents who are ready and willing to go the extra mile not only for their own children, but for their children's friends/colleagues as well. Without these parents, I doubt that Circle Players recent production of BAND GEEKS or Bob Pondillo's award-winning film about the issue of gay marriage, THE MIRACLES ON HONEY BEE HILL - featuring a cast of 10, 11 and 12 year olds - would have been possible.

And where would THE MOCKINGBIRD SINGS - the Harkleroad/Cort musical about the birth of country music - be with out the incomparable Donna Dorsey Russell?

For that matter, where would I be without my own mother, who let me take my first paying job as an actor at age 13 in Asheville, N.C.? Thank you, Harriet!

I predict that these show biz moms and dads are going to become even a more valuable resource as the acting industries evolve on the Nashville front, as the demand for kid friendly theatre and films increases the demand and market place for the Judy Garland/Mickey Rooney set.

There ought to be a special day for Stage Mothers!

Come to Nashville and Go to the Theatre!

Jaz Dorsey

The Nashville Dramaturgy Project
PS: Speaking of Stage Mothers, let's not leave out our Stage Grandmothers, too. If you're in NYC tomorrow night, please stop by for the free reading of Ted Swindley's STORIES MY GRANDMOTHER TOLD ME at the Sage Center, 305 7th Ave, 15th Fl., between 27th and 28th Street. The reading, produced by The Spiral Theatre Studio, starts at 7pm. Hope to see you there.