At The Core

"And the clock begins to wind down."

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 15:18:13 -0400

It’s so hard to believe that we’re already in our last week of By the Dawn’s Early Light! While we will surely have more blog posts as we wrap up our run, our playwright Mel turned in his final, very contemplative, very heartwarming post last night. (Sigh.)

And the clock begins to wind down.

How is it possible that as I write this, we as a company are about to embark on our final week of performances? Six more shows and the theatre will go dark. Costumes and make-up removed for the final time. Props placed in a box for some other times, others given as remembrance of a joyous creative experience, and others discarded like so many unwanted toys.

It’s going to be tough, no doubt. It has been some ride for me. The journey from first phone call, to table read, run through and first performance – first laugh being heard from the audience, as well as the sniffle of a tear, will be always remembered.

As Arturo Castro said: “Dude, we’re on f**king Theatre Row, bro!” – Yes we were, and we done good.

I have sat in the back of the theatre on many a night marveling as I watch Walter, our director, hunched over the control panel, intensely watching the performance, smiling, shaking his head, cheering, wipe a tear away and still continue to take notes as if it were the first day of rehearsals.

I watch Kevin move deeper and deeper into Freddie’s journey with the ease of a great painter who knows just what strokes are needed to fill in the colors of his canvas.

I still find myself welling up when Karen says: “Victor, when you leave it’s going to be quiet. I don’t like that kind of quiet.”

This has been a truly rewarding collaboration. I have made new friends and have enriched others. The seeds of future collaborations have been planted with the work that we have done as a company.

How did we all get here? Hard work and trust are often good starts to any collaborative endeavor and this one was no exception to that rule, but I think there were other factors involved as well – factors that perhaps in a month or so, when I find myself at a quiet moment, glass of wine in hand, it will come to me. But for now this will have to do: The Lebanese American artist, poet, and writer Kahlil Gibran once wrote, “You give but little when you give of your possessions. It is when you give of yourself that you truly give.”

To the ensemble cast: Kevin, Arturo, Gordon, Alicia, Wynn, Camilo, Karen, Mark, Gustavo, Flor, Damian and Jorge – thank you for truly giving of yourself and to your art to brings these stories so beautifully to life.

To Walter and Allison, you remind one constantly of why we do what we do with this life of ours in the theatre and the both of you do it inspirationally.

Yeah, I will be saying the same words as Angie does to Victor once the final curtain comes down on Sunday – “I don’t like that kind of quiet too.”

… “Midnight Mass”! Here are Joey...

Tue, 16 Aug 2011 21:23:08 -0400

Wynn Hall and Camilo Almonacid

Karen Sours and Arturo Castro

Arturo Castro and Karen Sours

Jorge Hoyos and Gordon Silva

Arturo Castro and Kevin Prowse

Wynn Hall and Jorge Hoyos

Wynn Hall

Alicia Fitzgerald and Gordon Silva

Gordon Silva and Camilo Almonacid

Alicia Fitzgerald and Kevin Prowse

… “Midnight Mass”!

Here are Joey Castillo’s photos of our second half of By the Dawn’s Early Light.

Remember: we’re only running through Sunday August 28th, and it’s only a 55-seat theater… so get your tickets soon at www.telecharge.com.

We hope to see you at Theatre Row!

Our wonderful photographer Joey Castillo took these great photos...

Tue, 16 Aug 2011 21:14:41 -0400

Mike Havok

Mike Havok and Gustavo Heredia

Mike Havok and Gustavo Heredia

Mike Havok and Damian Thompson

Flor De Liz Perez and Mike Havok

Damian Thompson

Flor De Liz Perez and Mike Havok

Our wonderful photographer Joey Castillo took these great photos of “Los Embrujados” in By the Dawn’s Early Light. And of course, he also took photos of…

Hurray! We opened By the Dawn’s Early Light last night!...

Fri, 12 Aug 2011 11:10:00 -0400

Kevin and Arturo in Midnight Mass

Mike and Gustavo in Los Embrujados

Wynn and Jorge in Midnight Mass

Hurray! We opened By the Dawn’s Early Light last night! And to a sold-out house no less. Thank you to the wonderful audience who came out to see the show. (And for those of you who haven’t gotten their tickets yet, be forewarned: it’s a 55-seat house and fills up FAST. So get your tickets soon!)

In honor of this momentous occasion, we thought we’d share with you a few of the photos that the remarkable Joey Castillo took during tech rehearsals, and a blog entry that Mel wrote after attending a tech rehearsal this week.

Waking up this morning I could not help, but feel it was going to be a special day.

I had several early morning appointments with various school representatives for possible positions as a theatre instructor this coming September, and along with my teaching credentials and artistic resumes I handed each school representative a postcard for my play, By the Dawn’s Early Light. They were rightfully impressed with the artwork by the gifted Katherine Miles Jones and with the subject matter that I was tackling. But most of all, they were impressed by the fact that the plays were being performed on Theatre Row, that cool block on mid-town Manhattan.

After I finished with my meet-and-greets I was to my other job of the moment and that is playwright for Apple Core Theatre Company. As I walked uptown from East Broadway (Yeah, I did say walk. I’m a big fan of walking.), and as I eventually turned the corner and headed to the stage door entrance, it suddenly dawned on me that I was in Theatre Row… but not as a theatre goer, but for lack of a better word, a “theatre-maker.”

As I entered the theatre space our crew — lighting designer, Jordan Acosta; set designer, Adam Kaynan; along with Allison (Producer), Barbra (Associate Producer)Walter (Director) and Farin (Stage manager) — were busy with setting things up on stage. It was really happening. Theatre was being created.

After a while as the actors started to come in they all had the same “this is cool” smile on their faces; I must tell you that as an actor in New York City I have performed in spaces that were barely more than a black box with three chairs in the middle of some block on the far reaches of the earth where even our beloved city rodents wouldn’t be caught hanging out in. Thus is the journey of the New York City actor, but every so often you get the chance to perform in a space that can truly be called nothing else but a “THEATRE,” and Theatre Row is such a space. You can feel the energy in the air. The pride in the actors as they take in their surroundings and what will be their “HOME” for the next three weeks.

It’s an awesome tribute to all the hard work that Walter and Allison and Barbara (the Apple Core Theatre Company Crew) have put into this production. The actors feel it, and I most certainly do.

Interview: Farin Rebecca Loeb

Tue, 09 Aug 2011 10:00:06 -0400

Thank goodness we have an awesome stage manager for By the Dawn’s Early Light. With twelve actors and two plays (and eight scenes in the second play), keeping track of what-props-were-supposed-to-be-where — and keeping our [wonderful] actors in line — was much too much for us to handle.

Please meet the wonder that is Farin Rebecca Loeb, who has a surprisingly varied background — from the performance side to the technical side, and from opera to theater.

Why did you decide to pursue stage managing?

Well, my education was actually in opera performance. I wanted to be an opera singer when I was about 7, and even got a specialized high school degree, then a BM and MM.

And then, when I had a vocal health problem, I noticed all the other stuff I’d been doing the whole time: coaching (working on non-technique things with singers, like acting choices), assistant directing, supertitles (translating operas and projecting the translations), stage managing, and so on. So I started doing more of that! I starting stage managing at a few small theaters where I was living, and eventually started directing opera.

And it’s funny how things work out, because I’m much better suited to what I do now. My experience as a singer and actor allows me to connect with the folks on stage in a really useful way, and I can add way more to the arts of theater and opera by telling lots of performers what to do at once, or as an SM, supporting a really positive, effective, awesome environment, and technically excellent and fluid environment!

Was there a performance/play/actor who made you want to go into this business? Why?

I guess I’ll finally admit it. For all my love of Mozart and Verdi, it was The Phantom of the Opera that made me decide to be a singer when I was little. I know.

Of course I also worshiped people like Kiri Te Kanawa, Kurt Moll, and Sir Thomas Allen (let’s pretend I totally kept my composure when I met the latter). As for what I do now, David McVicar really inspired me, as well as Francesca Zembello, and singers like John Relyea Gerald Finley- two of the greatest actors and singers working today, and some of the kindest people I’ve met. And singers like Nicholas Tamagna who made it clear to me that this was the type of work where I added the most to a production. And there are so many SMs, directors, and actors who have given me personal ideals of how to do things right!

How does working with the cast members of By the Dawn’s Early Light inform your process and performance?

We’ve really lucked out with an amazing group of talented folks and fabulous personalities. Having such creativity and lively but respectful attitudes makes my job way easier than it sometimes is, and allows us to creatively go that much farther.

Are there any other fields within theater/the arts in which you work?

I’m also really a director, as I’ve said. And I spend a lot of time and energy working on supertitles- one of my biggest passions since I was a teenager. I’m absolutely dedicated to accurate, well-timed translations, and will always fight for choices that make a big, if hopefully-not-consciously-noticed, difference. I also have done a lot of work with fight choreography and weapons.

Do you any great passions separate from theater/the arts?

The rest of my energy is generally consumed by fencing, social justice, and swing, blues, and tango dancing!

Today we load our production of By the Dawn’s Early...

Mon, 08 Aug 2011 10:00:05 -0400

Today we load our production of By the Dawn’s Early Light into Theatre Row! In honor of this momentous occasion — in which we will be painting platforms, focusing lights, and building set pieces from 9 AM to 11:30 PM — we thought we’d bring you a little taste of the technical theater process. Here, our producer Allison writes about creating the perfect, in-all-likelihood-unused prop.

People outside theater sometimes ask me what a producer does. My answer varies, depending upon the day, but often it means being a problem solver.

Much of “Midnight Mass” takes place in a church, and when the set designer Adam and director Walter and I sat down to talk about the design scheme for the show, there was never any question that candles would have to be involved somehow. But if you know anything about fire code laws here in New York City (and probably elsewhere), you know that lit flames in theaters is strictly prohibited without going through a series of nightmarish hoops. Not unlike these.

(SIDE NOTE: If you want me to talk at you in a solid 45 minute rant, you should buy me a drink and ask me about flame retardant curtains.)

But Adam, Walter, and our associate producer Barbara kept saying, “Oh don’t worry, we’ll get electric candles!” Yeah, electric candles! … What? You mean like the ones in the windows at Christmas time? Or on the menorah? What do you mean, electric candles? I had no idea what they were talking about, but had a lot of contracts to process and money to raise, so I put it on the back burner. (Those are also not allowed in NYC theaters.)

But then one day, I was in a 99 cent store (yes, producers shop in these to find props for their productions), and lo and behold, there were these strange little lavender candles, made out of real wax and with a little plastic wick at its core. There was a button on the bottom of each candle that made the little plastic wick light up. And flicker. And it looked really, really cool. ELECTRIC CANDLES! WHO KNEW? (Everyone but me.)

But it didn’t look very realistic because, well, the wax wasn’t melting.

And so, as you can see in the photograph, I spent a solid half hour at rehearsal shaving down the candles to make them look like the wax had melted. You can see the shavings in my cup (and all over the table… sorry, MTC!), as well as a before-candle, an “unlit” candle that had been shaved down, and the final “lit” candle after it had been shaved.

The best part is, I don’t even think that we’re going to use these candles. The color doesn’t really go with the design scheme, and we have much nicer red candles that we can use. Luckily, in a moment wherein I thought I broke one of the purple candles, I discovered that the base containing the plastic wick and button can come out of the wax. Thus, we’ll take that piece out of the purple candles and wedge them into the red ones.

As I was saying: producing is problem-solving.

We finished up our last rehearsal at MTC yesterday for By the...

Sun, 07 Aug 2011 11:01:00 -0400

"Arturo" and "Mike" in "Los Embrujados"

"Aamir" in "Los Embrujados"

"Richard" and "David" in "Midnight Mass"

"Freddie" and "Victor" in Midnight Mass

"Maria" and "Claudio" in "Midnight Mass"

"Joanne" and "Freddie" in Midnight Mass

Playwright, Producer, Director Watch On!

We finished up our last rehearsal at MTC yesterday for By the Dawn’s Early Light, before we pack up everything we own and move it on into the theater. Mel took a moment to write down some observations about one of the last rehearsals.

The final rehearsals at MTC prior to our landing at Theatre Row have been fascinating their up and down nature.

Little things are starting to take shape. Nerves are popping here and there. You can feel the actors staking out their little areas of real estate as each tries to focus on the task at hand. At a recent rehearsal there was much buzzing going around and the space was filled with much activity. Farin Rebecca Loeb, our lovely stage manager, is as focused as ever, and Walter our director is on his knees measuring the stage dimensions. Our costume designer, David L. Zwiers has come with a truly wonderful bag of goodies and the actor’s behavior brings a smile to my face. They each remind me of a child visiting FAO Schwartz for the first time as they try on their costumes, play and become familiar with their props.

I sit there with an amused look on my face as I watch the actors walk around in costume, running lines with each other, or in a corner going over their scripts and suddenly for a brief moment I forget that I’m watching a group of wonderful, hard working actors, who have become my friends, but I no longer see them.

Who do I see? I see Richard talking with David. I see Nadia listening to Arturo and I see Victor teasing Angie and finally I see Freddie brooding. Yeah, what I’m seeing is the characters that I have created walking around and doing their thing in front of my eyes. Some glance at me and smile as if saying: “Yeah, here I am. What’s up?”

It’s quite a surreal feeling, but it’s also a wonderful feeling to see actors fully engaged in the work that you’ve created and I am humble by their compassion and commitment. T

he fantasy of seeing my characters come to life is broken by the sound of Farin’s voice commanding the troops to “Listen up people!” and as the actors stand at attention, Farin walks among them breaking down the “rules of the game.” Meaning, “This is YOUR prop table. These are YOUR props and YOU are RESPONSIBLE for them” speech. My brain suddenly begins to drift and I get visions of Lee Marvin addressing his “Dirty Dozen” crew.

As you can probably guess that at this point in the rehearsal process I am a watcher, an audience member, an encourager, a living playwright sitting behind a desk listening carefully to make sure his words (and ONLY his words) are being spoken… and finally and most importantly, a cheerleader and supportive voice, an arm around a shoulder for my actors, my director, stage manager, and finally to my dramaturgy/Producer.

It’s been a heck-of-journey. It’s going be tough to say goodbye to the rehearsal space at Manhattan Theatre Club, it’s been like another home, but our real home awaits us on Theatre Row, and there we shall be and there we shall shine. I have been reminded from time to time watching and listening to actors recite their lines, bringing these characters and their individual worlds to life, of a quote from Stella Adler, the legendary actor teacher and Group Theatre member: “The Theatre Is A Spiritual And Social X-Ray Of Its Time.”

I believe with our production of By The Dawn’s Early Light we are fulfilling Ms. Adler’s decree.

Interview: Karen Sours

Sat, 06 Aug 2011 10:00:05 -0400

We still have interviews on the way for By the Dawn’s Early Light. Today, we hear from the lovely Karen Sours, who plays the role of Angie, the pregnant girlfriend of a soon-to-be-deployed marine, in “Midnight Mass.”

How did you end up in New York City?

When I was 5 years old, I told my mom I wanted to be an actress. My mom smiled, thinking this would be a passing thing, and said: “Claro que si mi amor, lo que tu quieras.”

When I was 9, I started acting in plays in Mexico City. When I was 13, I told my mom I wanted to study acting in NY. Again she smiled, and said: “Si corazon.” I continued to pursue acting in Mexico making my parents drive me around the city for casting calls. Oh, they hated it! Let’s face it: it sucks — being stuck in traffic to go sit at a casting office for hours to get seen for 5 minutes… who wants to do that? I did, and my parents without knowing what they were getting into, agreed to take me.

When it was time to look into colleges, again I told my mom I wanted to study acting in New York. This time she didn’t smile… nor did she frown. She just had that look people have when we realize that something is for real, that that something is actually happening… the look a parent has when they find out their child is moving miles away from home at age 18.

This time she said (in Spanish), “You really want to move to the U.S.?” I said: “Oh, yes. To New York City!” So we started looking at schools in New York. Schools in New York were insanely expensive, especially for international students. My cousin had gone to Texas State University which is right outside of Austin; she studied theater there, and loved it. Texas has a program in which Mexican students can study in Texas and pay tuition as Texan residents. Awesome! I visited the school, loved it, and the next year I was moving to the US. NY was still in my agenda though.

I graduated college, and immediately after, packed my things and moved to New York. There was never any doubt in my mind that New York was the right place for me. I was back in a big city, thank God! Moving from the giant Mexico City to a college town outside of Austin is a little hard, okay, really hard, but New York and Mexico City are much more alike; it feels closer to home. Plus, there are a ton of Mexicans here! And we have REAL Mexican food here, not that Tex-Mex stuff.

I love New York. You can get a taste of every culture here — I don’t know anywhere else in the world where this happens.

"A person noted for feats of courage or nobility of purpose"

Fri, 05 Aug 2011 10:48:58 -0400

Mel writes about a subject matter close to his heart: the first responders of September 11.

It never ceases to amaze me that, whenever you are writing about a particular subject matter, the themes that you are exploring seems to jump out at you from every newscast you come across or any periodical your eyes happen to glance at. Case in point: the subject matter of those heroic, selfless first responders and their current emotional and physical struggles.

It has been ten years since that deeply wounding September morning and many events are being scheduled to commemorate the anniversary of those horrific attacks, some of those events will be celebratory in nature (yes, this is true), while still others will consist of somber remembrances of family, friends and the many loved ones known and unknown who lost their lives. And as with any commemorating event many will border on the exploitative. But the one thing and the only thing that has really struck me has been the recent loss of so many first responders.

Like FDNY Fire Marshall Steve Mosiello, who worked long hours at Ground Zero after the 9/11 attacks who died of esophageal cancer on 7/15 of this year… or Police officer, Robert Oswain, a Bronx cop who passed away in May of this year, who was only 42 and served in recovery efforts at Ground Zero who also died of cancer. There are others who were also first responders have also recently passed away from or are now struggling with a similar form of cancer.

Many first responders – as well as people who lived near the lower Manhattan site on September 11 – believe their cancer is connected to the cloud of toxins that bloomed from the destruction of the 110 story World Trade Center. But sadly, a federal review by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health determined that “very little” evidence had been reported on the link between the massive toxic cloud and cancer.

In my play “Midnight Mass,” when confronted with suggestions that his father, Richard a former fireman and first responder should exercise more, his son, David responds with: “Have you really looked at him lately? The man hardly’s got any wind left after what he’s sucked up, plus his back is for shit and on top of all that he’s got some unknown ground zero disease eating him up from the inside out like a school of piranha fish.”

What defines a hero? According to the American Heritage Dictionary, a hero is: “A person noted for feats of courage or nobility of purpose, especially one who has risked or sacrificed his or her life.”

I think this truly describes all of the first responders, police officers, fire fighters. They must be honored and taken care of, and not discarded like yesterday’s news.

And now: a word about technical design from Producer Allison...

Tue, 02 Aug 2011 11:43:06 -0400

And now: a word about technical design from Producer Allison Taylor.

One of the great challenges of putting together an off-off-Broadway production in New York City is figuring out how to make it look good.

Consider this: our production of By the Dawn’s Early Light will “load-in” to the theater next Monday. That means it’s the first time that our actors will rehearse in the space with all of the set pieces, props, and costumes. (That will also be the first time our lighting designer, Jordan Acosta, will get to focus the lights and create a design for the show.) While we do have all day at Theatre Row on that Monday, we only have Tuesday and Wednesday evening to rehearse on our stage… and then on Thursday, we open.

It’s a quick turn around, and not uncommon for most indie theater here in New York. And the only way to deal with this time crunch is to be amazingly organized. I can’t say I’m amazingly organized, but luckily, our set designer Adam Kaynan is.

We worked with Adam last year on our production of As Is — Adam created the remarkable artwork for the show. This year, he is taking on the set design for By the Dawn’s Early Light. When we asked him if he was interested in designing, without skipping a beat he smirked and remarked, “Yeah sure… I love a challenge.”

Perhaps the greatest challenge of the show is that it’s actually two shows… two different one-acts with no common scenic design overlap. The one saving grace is that “Los Embruajdos” takes place on one single set (in the Windows on the World restaurant). But the second one-act, “Midnight Mass,” includes multiple locations including two different apartments, a basement, and a church. To depict these multiple places, Adam went with a sleek and minimalist approach, employing furniture that could take on multiple uses. Another great challenge for Adam was our director Walter’s preference to build a raised platform.

In the photos above, you can check out the design scheme for By the Dawn’s Early Light. Needless to say, Adam is a remarkable artist in his preparedness and creativity. But in order to appreciate his talents best, we of COURSE hope you come see the show and see the set for yourself.

When is a playwright done?

Sat, 30 Jul 2011 13:46:00 -0400

Now that our playwright Mel Nieves isn’t rewriting By the Dawn’s Early Light, he has time to reflect and write about about his writerly process.

As the final weekend of July approaches, we (the casts and creative team) just finished a second run-through of both plays. The script for “Los Embrujados” has been locked-in (meaning, set in stone – no more re-writes) for about a week or so, except for a dash of some Spanish thrown in for flavoring here and there. It’s been pretty much sitting back and taking in the actors as they slowly-but-surely make the roles their own, and listening to Walter’s (Walter Hoffman our director) insightful guiding of the actors as they search for the proper tone for the story they are telling and experiencing.

With “Miidnight Mass,” it’s been a bit a little different. For the most part, the script has been locked in for a about a week or so, but something was bothering me. In fact, it bothered me so much that I would wake up in the middle of the night with a single thought: “What was missing?” It wasn’t until watching a documentary about the war in Afghanistan on Netflix one late, late night that a light finally flickered into my brain.

Though the additional snippet of dialogue was not large in word count, it was large as to the impact it had for the scene and for the actors. It is always a satisfying feeling to have actors look at additional dialogue and not smile because it’s simply more lines, but to see them smile and say, “Thank you” for writing the note that they were struggling to reach and find.

During this last run-through of both plays, I couldn’t properly listen to them in their entirety. My thoughts were with the new lines that I had added for a very important scene in “Midnight Mass” and that’s all I was waiting for. I had the new lines written on a piece of paper and as the scene approached and the sequence began I listened and hoped that these new words would work. And with our wonderful actors, Alicia Fitzgerald and Kevin Prowse, the new lines hit the proper note and tone. Afterwards the actors in unison said: “That’s exactly what we needed. Thank you.”

So what happens now when all the re-writes have been completed and the scripts are now locked, so to speak… is the playwright still needed? Do I simply say: “See ya on opening night!” I don’t know about other playwrights, but this playwright isn’t going away anytime soon. And to be honest, it’s not a matter of protecting my work, but it’s a matter of helping the actors when they are stuck or in need of clarification regarding a moment in text or simply a line of dialogue. It’s funny the majority of the questions from the actors are along the lines of “What were you feeling when you work this?” rather than what the character I’m writing about is going through. It has also been interesting meeting with the set and sound designer as they ask me my thoughts regarding certain things that I describe in the script.

It’s funny: a theatre rehearsal space is my favorite place to be at. I can spend hours and days in that room with actors and writers going over things in a text or just talking shop. In this space is where I feel more myself, more intellectually and spiritually confident. All writing I believe is to some extent autobiographical and there ‘s a lot of me in both scripts –only it’s been more so with “Midnight Mass” (not to take anything away from “Los Embrujados,” which I am most proud of).

It’s been a very interesting process with “Midnight Mass,” and I believe that reason is because it was a play that I originally wrote almost five years ago. I’m obviously not the same person or playwright that I was five years ago and it’s been an interesting and most fascinating of collaborations between the voice I had then, with the voice I have now. I think it’s been a good collaboration between the two voices. I can see the difference in my writing style between then and now and I believe both voices have blended well with each other.

I hope when you come see the plays, you yourself will think so too.

Interview: Gustavo Heredia

Thu, 28 Jul 2011 11:05:00 -0400

Next in our line of By the Dawn’s Early Light interviews is Gustavo Heredia, who plays Miguel in “Los Embrujados.” It was the voice of Gustavo, in fact, that Mel had in his head when he was writing the play for us. When you see the show, you will immediately see the similarities between Gustavo’s journey and the character he so dynamically portrays.

Why did you decide to pursue acting?

I come from a very small village in Ecuador of about 100 people. My thought back then was either go to the army and pursue a career in the Armed Forces — I was attracted to it — or finish high school and go America. But I ended up doing neither one (if I he had gone to the Army, I would not have stayed anyway, for I realized just a few years ago that I have flat feet).

So it was written in my destiny that at the tender age of 16, I should migrate to the United States of America, or New York… however you wish to call it. However, the story of this unforgettable odyssey of what one goes thru to make it to America… is suited for another time and place. To answer the question of how I became an actor I will fast forward a few years.

As you might know, the most usual place where an immigrant can find a job is in a restaurant. I used to work in a restaurant on the Upper West Side as a busboy, a waiter, etc. During those years many clients would ask me if I was an actor. I’d say a WHAT!!??? I would say “No,” and their reply would be, “You should.”

I could care less what they were talking about. I didn’t know what it was about, but most of these people asking if I was an actor were actors themselves. Some of them were in American soaps such as One Life To Live, Passions or movies… one of them was in the movie True Lies with Arnold…

Anyway, I really didn’t pay much attention to those comments or suggestions for that matter. All I wanted to do was work to make enough dinero and go back.

So after many years had gone by and I had decided to stay (for by now, I had made America my Home), I started thinking that I should do something with my life. My motivation for this decision (or was it destiny once again?) was when I had realized how little I enjoyed working as a waiter… but what I can pursue? What can I be? Or what should I be?

Then something hit me. I said to myself, hmmmm… maybe ACTING!! But how do I begin? Or where do I begin? Do I need a college degree to be an actor? Who should I talk to? I would go to the movies and just focus on what the actors were doing, and I would say to myself, “I can do that.” I remember vividly seeing a movie called Pitch Black, one of the very first movies Vin Diesel did. Here is this muscular actor with a deep voice, and I am thinking… I want to that! I can do that what he is doing!! And that fueled even more my desire to become an actor.

I had asked many people how or where I could pursue acting, I got little or no help at all from their answers. I had even asked a Latino woman who I had seen in a couple of commercials but she was of no help at all…

I used to wear a ring that my ex-girlfriend had given me as a birthday present. This ring resembled a high school graduation ring. One day I was serving this lady that I had taken care of for a few years. She had seen my ring and said, “That’s a nice ring… where did you go to school?” I said, “No, this is just a present, but I would like to go to school.” “What would you like to study?” was her reply. “I have been thinking about acting, but I really don’t know where…” I said. Then she says, “Why don’t you talk to my husband? He is an acting teacher.”

And that was the beginning of this beautiful journey that began eight years ago. But only now I realize that I had this actor in me since I was a kid… but that will be yet another story!

Interview: Mel Nieves

Wed, 27 Jul 2011 11:00:06 -0400

You may know that Mel Nieves wrote By the Dawn’s Early Light… but did you know he’s also an actor, and member of the award-winning and supremely fantastic Labyrinth Theater Company?

… Oh, you did? Well, do you know what performance inspired him to get into acting in the first place?

Gotcha. Go buy tickets to his amazing play, and then read on for more info on the great and powerful Mel.

How did you end up in New York City?

By birth. I was born in Lenox Hill hospital on Park Avenue and was raised in Harlem on 115th street and Lenox Avenue

What’s your neighborhood? My current neighborhood is Bay Ridge, Brooklyn.

What’s your favorite part about Bay Ridge? The quiet and peacefulness of the neighborhood. Very Italian. Plus we have the best Pizza on the East Coast hands down.

Least favorite? The N train or as I like to call it “The Never Coming Train”

Why did you decide to pursue acting? My first exposure to acting was while I was a Police Science major at John Jay College, but I did not seriously pursue the study of theatre until I enrolled in The William Esper Studios in New York.

What profession other than acting would you pursue? (No need to be realistic in terms of your knowledge or skill-set.) Well my original plan in life was to be a cartoonist, but not just any old cartoonist. My dream from a very young was to be a first assistant cartoonist to the great Charles M. Schultz. I wanted to help him continue to create his iconic Peanuts characters. My other dream was to be a police officer. One of my childhood heroes was Frank Serpico.

What’s the greatest challenge of being an NYC-based actor? Economics. It’s always a hustle to find a gig that pays well enough to cover your over-head, but does not interfere with your pursuit of a career in the arts. I’m very fortunate in that I teach as well and that the arts organizations that I work with have been very supportive of my artistic pursuits.

Was there a performance, play, or actor that made you want to go into this business? Yes, but I didn’t know it at the time. When I was thirteen I saw the film Serpico and I wanted to be THAT guy. I often thought it was the character that he was playing that I wanted to be, and for a while it was, but deep down it was the fact that the actor playing him, Al Pacino, seemed to be a guy I could relate to, a guy from the street like myself.

Funny thing when I took my first acting class at John Jay College the man teaching the course, an actor named John “Gus” Fleming played the role Dr. Metz, in the film. Gus also became a father figure/mentor to me and I owe him so much. He passed away more than ten years ago, but I still hear his lessons in my head whenever I’m involved in a project. He was a true New York actor. He was a beautiful actor and a great man.

Favorite playwright? Arthur Miller. Favorite play? All My Sons.

If you could play any theater role, disregarding your age/gender/skillset (etc.), what role would that be? Oh that’s an easy one. I actually have two. One is Danny Saunders in Chaim Potok’s great masterwork The Chosen. The other is J. Pierpont Finch in How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying. I used be quite boyish looking when I was younger and people often told me that I should audition for that role, but the one hitch was that I couldn’t sing a lick or dance a step.

Interview: Jorge Humberto Hoyos

Tue, 26 Jul 2011 10:30:05 -0400

In an effort to make blogging for the cast and crew of By the Dawn’s Early Light as painless as possible (it’s a little scary, we know), we’ve decided to conduct INTERVIEWS. We asked everyone to answer a question or two (we gave them 20 to choose from), and between attending rehearsals, memorizing lines, and selling tickets to the production, they’ll (hopefully) have a little time to tell you a little bit about themselves and their process.

First up: Jorge Humberto Hoyos, who plays Father Claudio in “Midnight Mass.”

What kind of a person is your character? Are they like you? Unlike you? How does that inform your performance and process?

I have the privilege of playing Fr. Francis Claudio and I find him to be quite similar to me.

As older members of the human race, both Father Claudio and I have experienced faith-challenging moments in our lives. Painful experiences in our lives have made us mature in the faith that we have been raised in. We came to see life from a different perspective and the world in a different way. We are no longer limited by the erroneous belief that we can control what ultimately happens (situations or circumstances), or that we can control what other people do (since the gift of free will gives people the freedom to choose their actions and reactions).

Rather, Father Claudio and I firmly hold to our own obligation to remain serene in calamity and stressful situations (to the best of our human abilities) and to stay contributory to others lives. We both understand that compassion, empathy and the willingness to simply listen to others are the greatest aid we can provide.

In my own journey to adulthood, one of my “schools of life” was a Roman Catholic monastery in Los Angeles of which I was a member for four years. Those years were a major blessing for me in my growth as a Christian. And this development of my faith (a life-long quest!) has given me the calm and resilience to deal with the rejection involved in an actor’s daily life.

And my time at the monastery subsequently provided me with a deep well of experience from which to draw when playing a “man of the cloth.” It provided me first hand experience of that way of life when I portrayed St. Thomas Becket in Jean Anouilh’s play Becket. Likewise, in building the character of Fr. Claudio, the rich well of that experience of a life of work and prayer helped me enormously.

It is my hope that audiences seeing this brilliant production of Mel Nieves’ work, will come to see that a priest, in this case Father Claudio, is simply a man who daily tries to live a Christian life fully aware of his humanity and faults, and his thirst to be of service to God’s world. Clearly an example for all of us and a wonderful way to live one’s life!

We had our stumble-through (in theater terms, the first...

Fri, 22 Jul 2011 13:34:00 -0400

Damian, Gustavo, Flor in Los Embrujados

Mike and Flor in "Los Embrujados"

Flor and Mike in "Los Embrujados"

Jorge and Gordon in "Midnight Mass"

Kevin in "Midnight Mass"

Arturo and Kevin in "Midnight Mass"

Wynn and Jorge in "Midnight Mass"

Gordon and Alicia in "Midnight Mass"

Gordon and Camilo in "Midnight Mass"

We had our stumble-through (in theater terms, the first run-through of a show, in which actors are most definitely stumbling around) of By the Dawn’s Early Light last night.

Here are some photos of the evening, courtesy of our delightful Associate Producer Barbara Harrison. Luckily, they don’t look like deer in headlights… at least TOO much. Click through the photos to see!

Our playwright, Mel, was kind enough to write a little bit about...

Sat, 16 Jul 2011 12:49:08 -0400

Our playwright, Mel, was kind enough to write a little bit about his revision process. And while we did commission “Los Embrujados,” please note that we did not pay him to write this post.

It is exactly 12:48 in the morning as I write this blog. Trains were not kind tonight coming in from the South Bronx where I was performing in City Parks Foundation Summer Stages production of Sangre, a contemporary adaptation of Federico Garcia Lorca’s classic Blood Wedding by Mando Alvarado and presented by Time Warner. As the Four Tops’ “Baby I Need Your Lovin’” plays in the background of my Bay Ridge, Brooklyn apartment, I’m thinking, “Is there such a thing as good pressure?”

In my experience I would have to say yes. I’m a deadline-type-of-guy. I set certain goals for myself, set a date and hope that the writer’s journey that I’ve decided to partake in comes to a fruitful and promising start, as well as conclusion. Which leads me to the roads I began to travel following the next-to-final table reads of both “Los Embrujados” and “Midnight Mass”.

The first table-reads of the plays were as not as painful as I expected them to be. Hearing your stuff read out loud for the first time is never ever an easy thing to hear. Though I’ve grown more objective of my work and can step back see and hear what the problems in the text may be, it is still a tough thing to go through. As I sat there at the second reading, eyes closed, ears wide open, listening to my words, hoping that all the notes hit just so, I listened to all the actors carefully taking in the natural music of their voices and cadences. I was looking, as I often do, for that spark of inspiration from the actor who adds his or her spin on a line that may lead me to contemplate the possibilities of that line, and what that line can do, and how I can best take advantage of that actor’s particular gifts.

After the reading Walter (my director) and Allison (my producer/dramaturgy-savior) noticed that my spirits were not as high as theirs regarding what was just read. I didn’t think it was all bad, mind you, but I felt in my heart of hearts that I could do better and that the actors deserved much more from me as a writer. That Friday evening Allison, Walter and myself had meeting at Edgar’s Cafe on the Upper West Side. Much was discussed and debated… well not really, but I need some tension to make this blog a little interesting. We were actually on the same page as to what my duty was.

I must take a moment to discuss the collaboration that I am having with Walter and Allison — especially Allison, who truly has been a supportive and most encouraging voice during this entire process. There’s been an almost uncanny instant trust between us, which is most rare. But I think, in fact, we all three are aware of the responsibilities we each have regarding this project. Not just on a artistic level, but on a larger human story level — what the themes of the two plays mean to us and the people of this beautiful city, that we each love ever so dearly. After our Friday meeting was completed, hugs and exchanges good night were passed and we went our separate ways. The most significant moment of our meeting came as we stood to leave and I said: I know how to fix this. They both smiled as I did and I went on my way.

The next 24 hours can be best described as a creative tunnel vision, as I went over page by page each section of each play, retracing the steps and the journeys of each character… and then it happened. I believe it was at the 90 minute mark when I heard them speak — yes, this does actually happen. Writing or any creative form is not so much an intellectual exercise, though much thought does go into the creative process. But the goal is to achieve a creative-unconscious in which one feels as if they are “channeling” people. On Saturday evening, well before the clock was to strike twelve, I handed in the final drafts of each play and within less than two hours both Allison and Walter responded with excited emails.

I had cracked the code, so to speak. My brain was finally at peace and I was able to close my eyes that night knowing that I had giving the best of myself to this most special of projects.

How to Turn the Upper West Side into a Focus Group

Tue, 12 Jul 2011 12:00:06 -0400

Perhaps it’s my secret longing to be an advertising executive, but I always highly anticipate receiving the artwork for a production. It’s one of my favorite parts of the producer process.

When I began collaborating with our artist, Katherine Miles Jones, I told her that our starting point would be Tribute in Light, the memorial of the World Trade Center we New Yorkers see every anniversary of 9/11. (Mel came up with the title for the evening when I suggested this be the show’s image.)

Riffing off this idea, Katherine submitted three art concept proposals:
Katherine heavily favored the first. It was clearly the most artistically striking, the most visually powerful — and while it evoked the religious themes in the show, it also subtly forms the outline of the Twin Towers. If you’ve seen anything about By the Dawn’s Early Light, you already know that this is eventually what we went with.

However, while we pretty quickly eliminated the third concept (we worried it’d look too much like a Christmas card), I spent a lot of time considering the second image. To me, it represented the before and the after, the towers and the light replacing the tower… the dark and the light. It also allowed for the possibility of a subtle red-white-and-blue motif. I loved how clean it was. Its very simplicity attracted me.

However, I was concerned that it may be too subtle. Would it look like the Twin Towers to people who didn’t know what the show was about?

So I decided to tap my inner advertising executive to find out. On a muggy June evening, with nothing more than my iPhone and my keys, I traipsed around my neighborhood, the Upper West Side, and asked people what they thought.

My speech to random strangers:

“Hi, um, excuse me… may I ask you a quick question?” [If they seemed or looked suspicious, I threw in “y’all”. New Yorkers find Southerners very non- threatening.] “I’m a theater producer and I just got the possible poster for our next production.” [Then I showed them the image on my phone.] “Does this look like anything to you? Or is it just an abstract image?” [If they didn’t answer immediately, then…] “Does it evoke anything? Or is it just art?”

Keep in mind that unlike the advertising execs I yearn to imitate, I wasn’t taking diligent notes and I wasn’t approaching an equal mix of men/woman, older/younger, white/black/Latino/Asian/etc. I literally was just asking people who looked like they’d be friendly enough to respond to this totally weird request.

So I asked about two dozen people, and I’d say 70% of them immediately said it was the “light from the Towers”.

The Spanish guy working the Mister Softee truck said very hesitantly, after I told him that there were no right or wrong answers: “Well, to me, it looks like… well, it looks like the light from the towers.”
A Greek gardner said after a few moments, in very broken English, “It eez the… the tow-ers” and then when I confirmed that’s what it was supposed to be, he said “Eez very nice… good luck!”
An older couple raised their eyebrows, and the wife said, “Well, yes. I know what it is.” What? “The World Trade Center,” her husband said. She nodded.
An NYU graduate student said, “Oh, oh, I mean, yeah, it’s the [took two fingers and made upward motions with an uncomfortable look on his face]… yeah” to which I said, “The what?” and he said, “You know, the… the Twin Towers.” (Side note: it fascinated me how many people were genuinely uncomfortable identifiying the image.)
Another person said that he was in the film business and that we should move quickly on this image because he’s seen a lot of these kinds of images in the industry and he doesn’t want us to get buried.
Another guy in the Riverside Dog Run with his wife and friend said: “It’s the World Trade Center. Looks like you’re turning us into a little focus group! Where’s my check?”

But then some people just plain didn’t get it at all. They stood there, looking quizzically at the image on my phone, and said something vague about it being “pretty” or having “nice composition”. One person wanted to know why the text was all in lower case.

Either the audience got it immediately or they didn’t get it at all, and no amount of staring at the image was going to change that. And as much as I loved the image, that issue worried me too much.

We went with the first because even if someone didn’t get that the image evoked the Tribute in Light, it was powerful enough to stand on its own.

Wait, what's today?

Mon, 11 Jul 2011 12:00:00 -0400

And now, another word from our producer, Allison Taylor.

Wait a minute, y’all. Today is July 11th.

That means one thing and one thing only.

No, not the anniversary of the first World Chess Championship game between Bobby Fischer and defending champion Boris Spassky.

And no, it has nothing to do with Slurpees.

It means we have one month until the opening night performance of By the Dawn’s Early Light!

Exciting! And… nerve-wracking!

With only one month to go, we have over $1,000 yet to raise to make By the Dawn’s Early Light possible. That $1,000 is essential to covering all kinds of costs: our rehearsal space rental, this dart board, (boring) insurance policies, and the snacks that are imperative to keeping our actors happy.

We hope that you’ll become a part of this beautiful production with a tax-deductible donation to Apple Core Theater Company. To donate online, and to learn more about how your donation will make By the Dawn’s Early Light possible, please visit our IndieGoGo campaign. We would be so, so, unbelievably grateful for your generosity.

And remember the immortal words of the Bard of Cinema:

Thank you for your generous support!

It's the most wonderful time of the year.

Wed, 06 Jul 2011 21:38:05 -0400

And now a word from our sponsor, our producer Allison Taylor.

What could possibly be more wonderful to a producer than finalizing the script, casting the play, selecting the artwork, getting AEA approval, reviewing a press release, and successfully soliciting donations for the show?

What could be better?

Why, PUTTING THE TICKETS ON SALE!!!!

VITAL INFO

Tickets: $15
By Phone: 212.239.6200
Website: www.telecharge.com

The Studio Theatre at Theatre Row
(410 West 42nd Street, between 9th and 10th Avenues, NYC)

August 11 - 28
Thursday, August 11 at 8 PM
Friday, August 12 at 8 PM
Saturday, August 13 at 2 PM
Saturday, August 13 at 8 PM
Sunday, August 14 at 8 PM
Thursday, August 18 at 8 PM
Friday, August 19 at 8 PM
Saturday, August 20 at 2 PM
Saturday, August 20 at 8 PM
Sunday, August 21 at 3 PM
Wednesday, August 24 at 8 PM
Thursday, August 25 at 8 PM
Friday, August 26 at 8 PM
Saturday August 27 at 2 PM
Saturday, August 27 at 8 PM
Sunday, August 28 at 3 PM

Well, what are you waiting for? Why are you reading this post? We’re just gonna step away and make some tea while you find your credit card and decide if you want 20 or 25 tickets.

… What, you still haven’t bought your tickets? Well, just keep a few things in mind:

There are only 55 seats in the theater. Meaning they will go quickly.
There are only 16 performances of the show. Meaning if you don’t want to get stuck going to the last Saturday matinee, you better snatch up a pair on your preferred date. Like now.
They are only $15. Meaning that’s ridiculously cheap. Come on, some people who spend that much money on Thai dinner specials every day. What do you want: great theater or MSG?

We hope we will see you at Theatre Row in August!

We are proud to introduce the glorious cast of By the...

Fri, 01 Jul 2011 13:38:00 -0400

Camilo Almonacid

Arturo Castro

Wynn Hall

Mike Havok

Jorge Humberto Hoyos

Flor De Liz Perez

Kevin Prowse

Gordon Silva

Karen Sours

Damian Thompson

We are proud to introduce the glorious cast of By the Dawn’s Early Light! What did we do to deserve such talented, kind, brilliant, good-looking people?

Camilo Almonacid (David in “Midnight Mass”) is a graduate of Rutgers University and received his BFA in Acting. He trained at Shakespeare’s Globe Theater in London and is an alumni of LAByrinth Theater’s Master Class. His most recent credits include The Waiter in “Blue Bloods” Julio Martinez in “Law and Order SVU,” Yimmy inThe Lion (Manhattan Rep), Pancho in Night of the Iguana (Tenn 99), Camilo Tranquilo in a short film by Ryan O’Connor. At Rutgers Theater, he played Lenny in the production of In Arabia we’d all be Kings and Leontes/Old Shepherd in The Winter’s Tale.

Arturo Castro (Victor in “Midnight Mass”) was born in Guatemala but moved to New York at age 19 to attend the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. He has appeared in over a dozen professional stage productions including the Pulitzer prize nominatedElliot, a Soldier’s Fugue with the Luna Stage Theater Company, the award winning comedy Handball with the Puerto Rican Traveling Theater, a lead role in the Process Group’s production of Population 8 which ran at the Soho Playhouse, and most recently We Are Soldiers by legendary Cuban playwright Pedro Monje Rufus. He has a strong supporting role, playing opposite Ben Gazzara, Talia Shire and Vinnie Pastore in the independent feature film,Looking for Palladin, He has the lead role in the short film Taught To Hate, which has been accepted into the Academy Award Short Film Competition. His television credits include 8 national commercials, the PBS series “We are New York,” and the upcoming Sci Fi network pilot “Expiration Date.”

Alicia Fitzgerald (Joanne in “Midnight Mass”) is happy to join the lovely folks of Apple Core Theater Company for this production of “Midnight Mass.” NY credits include Autobahn (Silent Street Productions); Hansel & Gretel, A Folk Musical (Sparrowtree); Tombstone (Inwood Shakespeare Festival); and The Irish Play (Hamm & Clov Stage Company). Love and warm thanks to family and friends!

Wynn Hall (Maria in “Midnight Mass”) is originally from New Orleans and lived in Baltimore before coming to New York. It was in Baltimore that Wynn began acting professionally, and has since had roles on television shows (Homicide: Life on the Street) and in films (Along Came a Spider and the award winning Bellclair Times). Theatre credits include Miranda in The Tempest, Elizabeth in Six Degrees of Separation, the “mad animal” Inmate in Marat/Sade, Kendra in Talk Thirty to Me, and Madeline in Screwball. She is pleased to be performing with Apple Core Theater Company, and gives special thanks to Walter, Allison and Mel for having her. Wynn also designs and makes jewelry for Wynn Hall Jewelry. Earrings from her collection can be seen in the upcoming film Lay the Favorite.

Mike Havok (Arturo in “Los Embrujados”) wants this bio to be perfect. He wants it be entertaining, witty, and thought provoking while giving the reader a glimpse into his personality. He searched Google for tips on how to write the perfect bio. He clicked on the first search result (a wikiHow.com article) which proved to be unsatisfactory. He then immediately gave up on his search, and scoffed at the idea of consulting the internet for such a thing in the first place. So, instead, Mike would like to ask the reader a question that occupies his thoughts from time to time… In the year 2045 — the year commonly referred to as “the singularity”; when technology is so far advanced, man and machine become one — will you allow your body to merge with machines, or will you reject them?… Mike received his training at The New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts and recently completed the two year program at The Maggie Flanigan Studio. He also would like to thank everyone involved in the production for all their hard work and for providing such an amazing experience.

Jorge Humberto Hoyos (Father Claudio in “Midnight Mass”) is thrilled and honored to be a part of this amazing production of Mel Nieves’ By the Dawn’s Early Light. Relocating to New York City in 2009 from the west coast, Jorge most recently appeared in Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night with the Seeing Place Theater Company this past spring and in Fuente Ovejuna with the Nylon Fusion Collective last summer. In 2010, he completed a national tour of the JENA Company’s ensemble production of their new play, America, Amerique and was featured as Shamrayev in Chekhov’s The Seagull at the American Theatre of Actors. Performing with the Bruka Theater Company in Reno, Nevada, his diverse stage credits include Italian American Reconciliation, Cloud Nine, andSteambath. For his dramatic leading performances in Ibsen’s A Doll’s Houseand Anouilh’s Becket at the Reno Theater, he was honored with Blythe Award nominations. Jorge has trained with Terry Schreiber, Paul Russell and Margie Haber.

Flor De Liz Perez (Nadia in “Los Embrujados”) is a NYC-based actor, originally from the Dominican Republic. She recently originated the role of “Mujer Americana” in the Repertorio Espanol premiere of Caridad Svich’s In the Time of the Butterflies. Favorite regional credits at PlayMakers Repertory include All My Sons with Ellen McLaughlin (dir. Davis McCallum), Pride and Prejudice (dir. Timothy Douglas), In the Continuum (dir. Liesl Tommy) and Nicholas Nickleby (dirs. Joseph Haj/Tom Quaintance). Film and TV credits include the award-winning indie film One Number Two (Flexible Frame Productions) and The Good Wife(CBS). She is involved in the Literary Wing at the Lark Play Development Center and volunteers with the 52^nd Street Project. Training: MFA (Acting) from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill/PlayMakers Repertory Company. www.flordelizperez.com

Kevin Prowse (Freddie in “Midnight Mass”) is super excited to work with Mel and Apple Core Theater Company. Theatre: After Loss (Theater for a New City), Solo Man Watusi? (HERE Arts Center), Who Stole the Soul? (HERE Arts Center), No Matinees(CenterStage NY), Karen and Tomas: I Touch Myself and Tours of Duty(DUTF-Cherry Lane Theatre), In the Heart of America (Interact Theatre, PA),The Shoemakers Holiday (Storm Theatre). Television/Film credits: “Law and Order,” “The Retributioners,” “Six Degrees,” “Kidnapped”; Maria Full of Grace.

Gordon Silva (Richard in “Midnight Mass”) would like to thank Apple Core Theater Company, the cast, and writer Mel Nieves for this opportunity. A special thanks to my acting coach Alice Spivak. Thank you CM and everyone at GOTHAM COMEDY CLUB. www.gordonsilva.com

Karen Sours (Angie in “Midnight Mass”): A native of Mexico City, Karen’s most recent US productions include Chisa Hutchinson’s GLAAD Media Award Off-Off winner She Like Girls (Ohio Th.), Shanley’s Danny and the Deep Blue Sea (Gene Frankel Th.) directed by Alex Correia, The Seagull (Gene Frankel Th.) directed by Alan Langdon, and 7 Sins in 60 Minutes (HERE & Philly Fringe). Film/TV includeEnglish As A Second Language-PBS, NuvaRing Dish Series, Rachel Ray Show, The Today Show, Insidious (Winner at the NYIFF), and In The Wood’ Web Series. Karen obtained her BFA in Theatre from Texas State University. She has continued studies at Circle in the Square Theatre School, Labyrinth Theater Company’s Master Class, Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford, England, and private study with her mentor, Alan Langdon.

Damian Thompson (Aamir in “Los Embrujados”) is delighted to be a part of this moving production. This marks his Apple Core Theater Company debut. Damian has performed all cross the country. Favorite roles include the Prince of Morocco in the Merchant of Venice at the Colorado Shakespeare Festival, Napthali in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at Surflight Theatre, and Sylvester in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom at the Acorn Theatre. Love to his family and friends.