You Better Sit Down: Salon Night Episode 3

Our play at The Flea Theater in April of this year, You Better Sit Down: Tales from My Parents' Divorce, was presented with a bunch of post-show Salon Nights. This podcast episode features original material that was created for those events. Mia Kaitgbak performs a monologue written by Jon Kern from an interview he did with his own mother, who is a divorce lawyer. Next up is a talk-back with the cast: Matt Maher, Caitlin Miller, Jennifer R. Morris, and Robbie Collier Sublett, who discuss what it was like to create the play and interview their own parents about the often sensitive topic of divorce. Then The Flea's Resident Acting Company, The Bats, perform live audience and online responses to the question, Was there an object in your or your parents' divorce that was highly contested? And last, Sam Bisbee performs a song he wrote.

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You Better Sit Down Salon Night, Part II

A talk-back with the cast of You Better Sit Down: Tales from My Parents' Divorce kicks off this week's episode. The show, which recently completed its New York premiere at the Flea Theater, featured actors Matt Maher, Caitlin Miller, Jennifer R. Morris, and Robbie Collier Sublett, who all interviewed their parents, and each plays his or her own parent (or parents). In the talk-back, they discuss the process of creating the show, talking about these topics with their parents, and their parents' reactions to the show. Then, The Flea Theater's resident acting company, The Bats, presents a short piece created from online and live audience responses that they put together during You Better Sit Down and performed after the play on the same night. Next is a monologue crafted from responses by our R&D Group artist Mia Rovegno and performed by Associate Artist Dan Domingues. The episode closes out with a song written and performed by Matt Berger.

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YOU BETTER SIT DOWN: Salon Night Video

Our critically-acclaimed show You Better Sit Down: Tales From My Parents’ Divorce is entering its final weekend of performances at the Flea. Get tickets HERE if you don't have them yet!

Take a look at some of the innovative ancillary programming we’ve been pairing with the work!

Here, New Yorker scribe Michael Schulman performs his glamorous grandmother Doris, shedding light on divorce in an earlier generation:

And watch Marisa Michelson sing an original song that she and our R&D Artist Jason Grote wrote about the objects that are lost at sea in the raging storms of the heart:

And for those of you who are looking for blue-skies in your love life, follow this courting advice:

This cartoon and the accompanying song are both original creations inspired by the show!

Additional Speakers for IN THE FOOTPRINT Talk-Back Series!

Our talk-back series has been going great! New York City Council Members Brad Lander and Stephen Levin provided some great insights into the role of the city council in the project moving forward, and Brad gave us some fascinating history about Brooklyn's development patterns and community involvement. Tonight, we've got Tom Angotti, Urban Planning Professor from Hunter College, to give us more insight into how these development decisions that literally shape our cities are made.

Also! Next Monday, December 6 we are lucky to have

Deb Howard, Pratt Area Community Council
Jo Anne Simon, District Leader, 52nd Assembly District
Gib Veconi, Prospect Heights Neighborhood Development Council

They will talk about the future of the Atlantic Yards development, since it's not over yet! Gothamist sums up the current situation:

"...twenty community organizations led by Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn (DDDB) filed a motion with New York State Supreme Court seeking to halt all construction at the project... The motion for a stay follows a November 9th decision from Justice Marcy Friedman, finding that the ESDC 'lacked a rational basis for assuming that Atlantic Yards project would be completed in ten years.'"

So make sure you come to the show and stay for the Post-Show Events. Put your questions to some of the people who have real answers for you. And if you'd like, there's an opportunity to help ensure that AY moves forward with more attention to the surrounding environment: use code FUTURE when purchasing tickets and a portion of that ticket price goes to the community organizations involved in the motion to help with their legal fees.

IN THE FOOTPRINT Talk-Backs

Our Post-Show Talk-Back Series was announced today! Check out the article here!

Here's the complete schedule:

November 20 at 2PM: Michelle de la Uz, Executive Director of the Fifth Avenue Committee
November 23 at 8PM: Conversation with the Artists
November 29 at 7PM: Brad Lander, New York City Council Member
November 30 at 8PM: Stephen Levin, New York City Council Member
December 2 at 8PM: Tom Angotti, Professor of Urban Studies & Planning at Hunter College
December 4 at 2PM: Daniel Goldstein, Co-founder of DDDB and last resident to leave The Footprint
December 6 at 7PM: Conversation with the Artists
December 7 at 8PM: Letitia James , New York City Council Member (Invited)
December 9 at 8PM: Stacey Sutton, Urban Planning Professor at Columbia's Architecture Grad Dept.

First up is this Saturday at 2PM - MICHELLE DE LA UZ, the Executive Director of the Fifth Avenue Committee. Here's the Fifth Avenue Committee's mission:
The mission of Fifth Avenue Committee, Inc. (FAC) is to advance social and economic justice in South Brooklyn principally by developing and managing affordable housing and community facilities, creating economic opportunities, organizing residents and workers, providing student-centered adult education, and combating displacement caused by gentrification.
More on their website including information about all of their amazing accomplishments for the community!

We're super excited about these speakers! Hope you'll come to listen, ask questions, and enjoy!