Wednesday, March 30, 2011

MAPLE AND VINE gets great reviews!

MAPLE AND VINE, currently at the Humana Festival, has gotten some fantastic press and has been really well received by the community down there! Congratulations to our Associate Artists, Jordan Harrison and Anne Kauffman, as well as the rest of the cast and crew! Here's what people are saying:

It's still running for a few more days, so if you haven't seen it yet and are in Louisville, be sure to check it out! Get your tickets HERE!

Monday, March 28, 2011

Paris Commune in the News

First of all, let's all wish the Paris Commune a happy 140th Anniversary! March 18 marked the first uprisings that led to the overthrow of the government. March 26 were elections, and March 28 (today!) was the day that Commune was officially proclaimed. Here is text in our play, PARIS COMMUNE, straight from one of the posters for the election made in 1871:


“Citizens: We have defended Paris. Aided by your generous courage, the Paris Guard expelled the government which was betraying us. But our mandate has expired, and we do not pretend to take the place of the old government. This is not a military coup, but a legitimate change of power. Hold communal elections, and we will step down. And let Paris write a fresh page in the book of history!”

Paris Commune is of course still implicitly present in the current revolutions, and Glenn Beck, according to the Huffington Post, is also seemingly talking about "government officials' salaries should not exceed that of the average worker" - an idea that the Commune also had.

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Benefit Photos 2010!

I know it seems like just yesterday we were at the fabulous Kiss & Fly Club in the meat packing district celebrating the 2009-2010 season and The Great Immensity with Benefit 2010: It's Not Easy Being Green. Take a look at the photos we just posted from the evening to relive the magic, and to start building the anticipation for the benefit this year: BENEFIT X, celebrating our tenth anniversary season at (le) poisson rouge on May 2. Tickets go on sale and invites will be sent out next week, so let's get pumped!

Click HERE to see the photos on Flickr!

Below are a few choice images to whet your nostalgia (that sounds gross) and get the excitement rolling!

Our lovely Associate Artists performing

 Long-time board member and friends

Bess Wohl and Michael Friedman, playwright and composer/lyricist for Pretty Filthy  
(yes, there is also a photo of them smiling together)

 The background is getting crooked, though our Associate Artists are looking great!

 
and here are more of our Artists are at the end of the night!

Friday, March 11, 2011

WHAT IS YOUR IDEA FOR A CIVILIANS SHOW?

If you have reached this page, it means that you just bought tickets to our benefit this year, BENEFIT X! Tickets will be held at the door for you under the name used to purchase the tickets. If you would like further confirmation, please email Rosalind at rosalind@thecivilians.org.

First and foremost, THANK YOU! Can't wait to see you on May 2!

Secondly, we are asking a question (as we do every year), and YOUR ANSWERS will be used to create an original Civilians' performance for the benefit! This year's question is:

WHAT IS YOUR IDEA FOR A CIVILIANS SHOW?

Tell us your answers in a comment at the end of this post!
(Or email them to liaison@thecivilians.org.)

And lastly, if you haven't seen all of The Civilians' shows since 2001 and are wondering what our ticket levels are all about, I'll just let the shows speak for themselves:

GUCCI PUMP - FROM GONE MISSING
TOM
So, do you know Laura? So she was meeting with some big TV people. And she had on this pair of black Gucci pumps and a nice skirt and everything, and after her meeting we were all going out. And somewhere along that night she lost her shoe.  One of her Gucci shoes, because she had changed at PS 122 because she felt overdressed. She thinks that she left the shoe in the bathroom. I think she actually lost the shoe later that night, because I think they went out drinking--

answering machine beep 
LAURA 
Hi, it’s Laura, um I was really hoping that you could have secured the shoe before you
left town but apparently you have not, so I’ve been working with Tom and Tom has gone back to PS 122 numerous times. And I’m leaving numerous messages for the house manager, the artistic director, the director of development to see if they have gotten their act together enough to find the shoe.  Um, I am sending a packet of flyers to you, to Tom, to Big Daddy, and to Elizabeth, and I’m sending maps of where I’d like you guys to post the flyers because I’m really hoping if someone sees some--you know-- one legged person wearing it–who wears a size six--that uh, it will become clear whose shoe that is and where they need to send it to in Los Angeles immediately. Um, I am working on the flyer, and I’ve also started an email address:  ilostmyshoe@earthlink.net.  So, um, I don’t know if you have gone back to PS 122 or not--no one there returns my calls and it’s really depressing-–but I’m really hoping the flyers will stir up some leads!

FRENCH GOOSE - FROM CANARD, CANARD, GOOSE?
CHARLIE
Ladies and gentlemen, we have a very special little treat for you tonight – no, no I’m sorry we can not give you a sad story about little lost frozen popsicle geese – there is no sad story about little sad chilly little imprinted-on-Anna-Paquin geese –No– tonight we give to you ladies and gentlemen the real geese of Long Lake.  They are from French.  France. And do not be tricked, ladies and gentlemen, although these geese star in a “documentary,” they are not amateurs.  No. They are professional performers.  And these geese live now in a comfortable tedious retirement with two French girls who wait ever so patiently for them to die.  So, please help me welcome these very very talented geese to our stage, they are very very happy to be here, as they have nothing else to do.

SCHRODINGER'S CAT - FROM (I AM) NOBODY'S LUNCH
MALE SOLO
I've been thinking how love is like Schrodinger's cat
Locked up tight out of sight in a box and how that
Means it's dead and alive at the same time and so—
When you think of the box it's like seeing a
Photo of a cloud or fog
It’s an outcome that remains uncertain
You can't see a thing in all that fog
You can't see a man behind the curtain.

FEMALE SOLO
What are you so afraid of?
We’re gonna find an answer, it’s just around the corner and I know…
What are you so afraid of?
We’re gonna find an answer, find an answer…


So leave your comments below! Thanks again!
 

Monday, March 7, 2011

LET ME ASCERTAIN YOU: PRETTY FILTHY - Winners!

For those of you who missed LET ME ASCERTAIN YOU: PRETTY FILTHY on Friday, it went great! The performers did a thoroughly fabulous job, and it seemed like everyone had a fantastic time. Our audience responses were even filthier than they were at LET ME ASCERTAIN YOU: PORN (difficult to imagine, considering the winning "pornified" name for Billy Elliot at the cabaret last June was "Bill-Me-Elliot-Spitzer"). I can tell you that the winner for Colin Quinn: Long Story Short  was "My Penis: Long Story Short" and the winner for Driving Miss Daisy was "Muff Diving Miss Daisy" (a dramaturg later suggested "Diving Muff Daisy"). I can't even tell you what Spider Man: Turn Off the Dark's was, though an excellent runner up was "Spider Man: Breaking My Third Leg."

Thanks for coming to those who did, and for those who didn't, hope to see you at the next LET ME ASCERTAIN YOU in June!

Friday, March 4, 2011

LET ME ASCERTAIN YOU: PRETTY FILTHY Tonight!


In a few hours, we'll be doing our third cabaret in our LET ME ASCERTAIN YOU Series, this one devoted to our musical about the adult entertainment industry, PRETTY FILTHY. We'll be asking the audience a few questions, and we'll announce the winners at the event. For those of you who'd like to play along at home, give us your best answers! 

Write in a “pornified” title for the following Broadway shows:

#1 Spider Man Turn Off the Dark
#2 Driving Miss Daisy
#3 Colin Quinn: Long Story Short

For example, some movies that have been “pornified” include “Edward Penishands,” “How Stella Got Her Tube Packed,” and “Saving Ryan’s Privates.” You get the idea.

Let us know your thoughts in the comments, and we'll let you know what won on Monday!