A new friend, a demonic workshop and a heartfelt plea...

A lot's going on right now with Between Us and I wanted to update you all about it. First of all, Tierney Nolen, an actor we have worked with on three straight full productions and truly love do to her attitude and talent, has become an official member of the company as our Social Media Director! Please welcome Tierney and please remember that this was our first introduction to her!:

Long live the Sheep!

In addition, we are having a workshop this Saturday, July 26th, at our old spot, the Director's Studio (311 West 43rd St, 4th floor) of Hell-Bent, a new horror-comedy one act by Sander Gusinow, the winning playwright from this year's Take Ten festival. Here's a reminder of his incredible work:

The play will be directed by Lourdes Uno, another artist we've been pleased to work with during the last few years, who wrote and directed another play in this year's festival. They were the only two horror authors to qualify for the festival and we really feel like their voices are a natural match. Here's a look at her work from the festival:

So join us while we celebrate these two unique voices. The whole thing will only be ten dollars, there will be refreshments for sale and you will be supporting a company doing new, diverse work! Plus, it will be scary!
Here's the facebook event.

And speaking of new work...I've been hinting for some time about the labor play we are producing in September. Well, in case I haven't put all this up here, or you forgot, Samantha and I collaborated on a historical fiction/multimedia event called Uprising and it will be playing September 2-8 at Shetler Studios. You will be hearing a lot more from me about this as it gets closer, but for right now, we are doing an indiegogo campaign and we really need the support in order to provide our cast with the sets and costumes they deserve to make their work look professional. Please donate and share! We only have twelve days left!

Halloween Party

Hello, friends!

      We're having another Halloween party this year and you're invited. And in case you don't remember how seriously we take this holiday, here's a pictoral reminder from last year.

The staff and some audience participants at last year Zombie vs. Vampires party. Look at some of the costumes people came up with!

So what are the details for this year? Well, it's all going down at 8pm on Saturday, October 26th at the Director's Studio, 311 W. 43rd St, 4th fl.

It will be a spooktacular evening of singing, dancing, improv, comedy, and other fantastic performances.

Tickets $20 and come with 2 free beverages of your choice!

Wear a costume because the Costume Contest winner will win a gift certificate to a nearby bar to continue the festivities!

Yep, that's right. Two drinks and excellent performances for only $20.

All proceeds will go toward paying for the 2013-2014 season.

Performances by:
Naomi Ekperigin
Benjamin Freeman
Kevin Froeliks
Anna Stefanic
Cynthia Vasquez
Jay Welch
Sarah White
Sharon Zaslaw
And Maybe More!

Look at the lovely flyer Allie Trimboli designed for us.

 So, check out our facebook event and come on down!

Other than that, we've been in meeting about all kinds of events, so stayed tune for more!

Pretty Pics and Rowdy Reading!

Ahoy thar, Between Us Fans (should I call you Betweenies? something about that sounds wrong...)! How is everything? Remember to reach out to us and let us know about your projects...and especially let us know if you would like us to advertise for you on our blog or facebook page.

Things have been going pretty great for us. We had a lovely afternoon in Washington Square Park a few weeks ago for our fundraising picnic (there were homemade brownies!), and I wanted share some pictures of the fabulous performances.

Cythia Vasquez belting out Whatever Happened to My Part

Our Artistic/Marketing Intern, Abby Leigh Rose, serenading us with I Wanna Hold your Hand

Shaqui and the Bellyjazz dolls leading a sample class after a performance (with some audience participants).
Recently featured actor, Sharon Zaslaw, is the instructor and I'm one of the Bellyjazz dolls (in green!)

The incomparable Anna Stefanic on keyboard, clearly getting a new, young admirer

Sad you missed all the fun? Well, guess what? We're having a reading this Saturday, October 5th, at 8pm! That's right!

Tickets are $10 per person and include one beverage of your choice.  Check it all out at The Directors Studio 311 W 43rd St, 4th Floor New York, NY 10036

The line up is as follows:

Though They May Be Parted
Written by: Patricia Milton
Directed by: Nick Saldivar

A Long Walk on the Beach
Written by: Matt Henderson
Directed by: Graydon Gund

Parables for the One Percent
Written by: Karl Custer
Directed by: Samantha Lee Manas

Starring:
Elise Baker
Casey Bartolucci
Claire Corddry
Kullan Edberg
Trent Fucci
Brooke Haney
Lesley Noyes
Anna Stefanic
Logan Sutton
Ari Vigoda
David Weinheimer
and
Samantha Jane Williams

This includes the Between Us directorial debut of our Directing Intern, Nick Saldivar, fabulous (as usual) directing efforts by Samantha Lee Manas, my Co-Artistic Director, and Graydon Gund, our Associate Artistic Director. It also includes some amazing acting from old and new faces as well as some wonderful new writing.

But the big thing is, this is including the first reading of Parables for the One Percent, by Karl Custer (aka Uncle Yo) our Literary/Artistic Assistant. This is leading up to our full production of it, this January. But more on that later. For now, just remember the insanity that is Karl's work with this picture from our last production of his.

Tierney Nolen, Casey Bartolucci and Ari Vigoda in St. Patrick Battles the Bearded Serpent

Again, this is all going on at 8pm, at the Director's Studio, October 5th. Check out the facebook event!

We even have a lovely graphic created for us by Allie Trimboli, just for the occasion!

So, come on down and join us! Hope to see you all soon!

After a busy few months, let's party in the park!

Hello, all!

A lot has happened since I last updated you and I want to give you the skinny on all of it! The short and sweet of it is, we are having a fundraiser, this Sunday, September 22nd in Washington Square Park from 3-6. But, I wanted to make sure everything we've done in the last few months is up here, so more on that later.

First of all, Behaving Badly was AMAZING! Here are some pictures from each of our plays, and you can of course, find more on our facebook page.

Millions & Millions & Millions by Cathy Earnest, directed by Graydon Gund
Alyssa Simon (courtesy of Actor's Equity), Catherine LaClair and Cain Duminski pictured

Inalienable Rights by Samantha Lee Manas, directed by Veronica Dang
Anna Stefanic, RG Lagonda and Wes Hager pictured

Three Bites from the Underworld written and directed by Jasmine Brown
Sharon Zaslaw and Molly Garbe pictured

St. Patrick Battles the Bearded Serpent by Karl Custer Jr., directed by Samantha Lee Manas
Tierny Nolan, Casey Bartolucci and Ari Vigoda pictured

Above photos courtesy of Vladimir Weinstein.

But all of that is old news. The big news is that of all the new staff we've added! Firstly, we'd like to welcome our interns for the season: Abby Leigh Rose for Artistic/Marketing, Nick Salidivar for Directing, Meghan Sullivan for Literary and Cresent Haynes for Sound Design. They are all super talented and you will be seeing a lot of work from them in the coming months.

Additionally, we've added Brittany Remington to the full position of Associate Producer. For her, I'm gonna add her headshot, because she's pretty big deal. She may be taking over this blog, at least partially, because we know the updates aren't exactly...consistent. But either way, she is truly great and we're very excited to be working with her.

It's Brittany!

Before I get to our final and most pressing announcement, I do want to go back in time and give you a few photos I promised. Yes, these are some looks are our Cinco de Mayo variety show from the spring. All of the rest (and there are a lot!) are up on facebook.

Anna Stefanic and Samantha Jane Williams

Karl Custer aka Uncle Yo

Calixta Star

Jeremy Rafal

So, now that you're reminded what kind of party we can throw, why not join for a Sunday in Washington Square park?

There will be sing, dancing, fun and even refreshing drinks for sale. Suggested donations are ten dollars, but stay as long as you like and give what you're able.

Again, it's 3-6 in Washington Square Park, September 22nd. We will be in Garibaldi Plaza.

The featured acts will be: Anna Stefanic, Abby Leigh Rose, Sharqui and the Bellyjazz Dolls (featuring me!), Art Brown, Cynthia Vasquez, Boogie Bogz and maybe some other surprises.

Come one, come all! 

Oh, and by the way, Washington Square Park has a special meaning to us because of our projects later in the season...but this post has been long enough. More updates much sooner next time, I promise!

Lots of love!

Behaving Badly and Cinco (or really Once) De Mayo

Hi, all! Happy May!

Just a quick update. A lot is going on for us. May 11th (that's tomorrow, folks!) we're having our Cinco De Mayo themed variety show/fundraiser! Please come by, show your support and have a good time! More info is on the Facebook event, but basically you'll get two drinks, comedy, music and dance performances all for just $20. 8pm at Joria productions, folks!

Our other news is regarding the One-Acts. Things are really coming together! They will be performed at Roy Arias, Stage II June 26-30.  The evening will be called Behaving Badly and the line up will be:

Saint Patrick Battles the Bearded Serpent, written by Karl Custer Jr. and directed by Samantha Lee Manas

Inalienable Rights, written by Samantha Lee Manas and directed by Veronica Dang

Millions and Millions and Millions, written by Cathy Earnest and directed by Graydon Gund

Three Bites from the Underworld, written and directed by Jasmine Brown

Casting is almost done and rehearsals are underway, so it should be an exciting time!

In the meantime, enjoy the lovely weather and Mother's day and remember to join us tomorrow night for an excuse to party and support the arts!

Tricks, Treats and Indiegogo

Hey, Between Us Fans!

     First of all, we wanted to update you on our Halloween themed improv battle going on Saturday, October 20th. It will be at 8pm at the Directors Studio and will include costumes, makeup, music, candy, drinks, chances of audience involvement and of course, comedy!

So far the teams are:

The Vampires:
Elise Baker
Jeremy Rafal

and

The Zombies
Chris Barber
Veronica Dang

Improv-Or-Treat!

And of course, our indiegogo campaign is still going. Please donate as soon as possible to keep the momentum on indiegogo up! We're working really hard to get ready for the festival in March as well as the One-Acts in June and we want to be able to give this work the financial support it deserves.

Now things are getting serious!

All of our meetings, all of our readings, all of our hits and our (few) misses, everything we've been doing has been leading up to this:

Between Us Productions is going to have staged performances within the year! First, we're going to have a Ten-Minute Play festival on March 18-24th. We are just finalizing the 16 plays we're going to be using right now and I have to tell you, they're pretty terrific. Between Us Productions has a commitment to support compelling original work and we intend to live up to our own standards. 

We're also going to be having an Evening of One-Acts in June. This will include some of our most well received work, finally staged and given the attention they deserved.

St. Patrick Battles the Bearded Serpent, by Karl Custer, Inalienable Rights by Samantha Manas, Three Bites From the Underworld by Jasmine Brown (me) and a forth play written by the winner of our Ten-Minute Play Festival!

To fund all of these things, we have launched an awesome Indiegogo campaign. Please check it out! Donate, share and show some love! 

Awesome Indiegogo Campaign

We're also going to be having a really fun Halloween Themed Improv Battle on October 20th. There will be candy, drinks, costumes and more. But more info on that later. ;)