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Here Comes the New Neighborhood

TheaterJerk April 17, 2015

IMG_4493 (1)

This was my third time visiting the Humana Festiva in Louisville, Kentucky, and the place is so hospitable and generous that they really make you feel a part of their community, no matter how many miles you’ve traveled or how long you happen to be there for.

Still, it was a thrill to run into so many familiar East Coast theater faces in Louisville this year. As usual, there were loads of actors and directors whose work I’ve seen at Long Wharf, Yale Rep and elsewhere. (This year’s crop includes Mike Donohue, Alex Moggridge, Triney Sandoval, Marjorie Johnson, Bruce McKenzie, Ramiz Monsef, Sharon Washington and of course Les Waters.)

The big deal gathering of Connecticut-known thespians, however, was at a party launching the “newly new NEW migrant theater company” New Neighborhood. The company was formed as the result of the cameraderie, commercial success and critical acclaim that arose from the production of These Paper Bullets! at the Yale Repertory Theatre in the Spring of 2014.

Playwright Rolin Jones, who freely and frenetically adapted These Paper Bullets! from Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing, and then arranged for Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day to pen original songs which suited Jones’ swinging-‘60s Beatlesque update, is a driving force behind the new company, but this thing has “creative collective” stamped all over it. Yale, which commissioned These Paper Bullets!, has been hugely supportive of the endeavor, helping staffers associated with the show arrange to work with the new company while continuing with their university endeavors.

This is wonderful news for those of us who loudly championed These Paper Bullets! as a special kind of theater, created jointly by amiable alums of the Yale School of Drama, using collaborative technique they’d weaned years earlier as students. The show had a freshness and vitality that is practically unique to ensemble student endeavors such as the Yale Cabaret. It was  remarkable to see that spirit writ large at Yale Rep. To learn that the perpetrators will carry on with further productions of These Paper Bullets!, as well as many brand-new projects, is a gift that the American theater may not yet fully understand the wonderment of.

The official list of “Neighbors” in the New Neighborhood, as provided on a press release with their official comical designations, are:

James Barry (Yell Leader)

Broken Chord (Garbage Men)

Rob Chikar (Pinsetter)

Patch Darragh (Police Chief)

Damon Daunno (Peeping Tom)

Stephen DeRosa (Karaoke Host)

Bryan Fenkart (Demolitionist)

Ceci Fernandez (Haberdasher)

Jessica Ford (Animal Control)

Jackson Gay (Green Grocer)

Christopher Geary (Dog Walker)

Linda Gehringer (Country Club Pro)

Brad Heberlee (Parade Marshall)

Nicholas Hussong (Cable Repair)

Rolin Jones (Crossing Guard)

Ryan Kattner (Werewolf)

Jennifer Kiger (Scout Leader)

Justin Kirk (Marriage Counselor)

Tony Manna (Docent)

Kelly L. Miller (Spelling Bee Champ)

Andrew Musselman (Ice Cream Man)

Keira Naughton (Notary Public)

Adam O’Byrne (Little League President)

Steven Padla (Paper Boy)

Lucas Papaelias (LPFunK) (Librarian)

Christian Parker (Handyman)

Jeanine Serralles (Butcher)

Seth (Sign Painter)

Catherine Sheehy (Coroner)

Greg Stuhr (Stay-at-Home Mom)]

Ariana Venturi (Compulsive Liar)

Paul Whitaker (Street Sweeper)

Liz Wisan (Cat Lady).

Jones, Gay, O’Byrne, Kiger, Sheehy, Papaelias, Naughton, Kirk and Barry were among those I recognized at New Neighborhood’s self-thrown housewarming party at the bar META, a few blocks from the Actors Theatre of Louisville, in the midst of the final weekend of ATL’s 2015 Humana Festival. The New Neighborhood Party began around 12:30 a.m. on Saturday night. At around 2, the latest line-up of The Quartos—the Hard Day’s Night-style stars of These Paper Bullets!—performed half a dozen songs. One of the new members is Justin Kirk, of TV’s Weeds, Animal Practice, Jack & Jill and the Mike Nichols filming of Angels in America.

Kirk will play Ben (TPB’s equivalent of Much Ado’s Benedick), the role created by David Wilson Barnes at Yale Rep last year. Kirk was a most ingratiating lead singer on a couple of songs and a strong team player on the others, strumming those Merseybeat chords mightily.

Any party where The Quartos sing their rockin’ “hey nonny nonny”s has to be the theater party of the year. But this was even better because of the sheer delirious love of live theater that bounced merrily around that small bar. New Neighborhood exists because its members love what they do and want to do it together, now, even though many of them are taking time away from more lucrative TV, movie or teaching jobs to do it. They chose the Humana Festival as the place to profess this love, and hundreds of kindred spirits involved in similar labors-of-love in Kentucky joined them in the celebration.

Party’s over. Now come the shows. In July, New Neighborhood will present the world premiere of Suzanne Heathcote’s drama I Saw My Neighbor on the Train and I Didn’t Even Smile at the Unicorn Theatre in Stockbridge Mass., as a co-production with the Berkshire Theatre Group.

Then there will be two presentations of of the Yale Repertory Theatre production of These Paper Bullets!, Sept. 8 through Oct. 18 at the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles and sometime in November & December at the Atlantic Theater Company in New York City. This a co-production of the earlier Yale Rep production, and New Neighborhood is making all the right decisions about how to keep the show’s distinctive style and energy. Most of the original cast and creative team is being retained, at considerable expense, in order to assure the requisite pizzazz.

New Neighborhood is also developing projects for Fox Television (one is Dependable Dittmers, We Sell Cars, inspired by an episode of NPR’s This American Life) and presenting stage events such as the established pop/comedy cabaret act The Petersons (featuring These Paper Bullets! cast member Keira Naughton) in The Petersons! Live from the Carousel Club, November 21, 1963, One Night Only!

The mind boggles. The paper bullets fly. The kick-off party was memorable, but the best is yet to come.

 

This was my third time visiting the Humana Festival, and the place is so hospitable and generous that they really make you feel a part of their community, no matter how many miles you’ve traveled or how long you happen to be there for.

Still, it was a thrill to run into so many familiar East Coast theater faces in Louisville this year. As usual, there were loads of actors and directors whose work I’ve seen at Long Wharf, Yale Rep and elsewhere. (This year’s crop includes Mike Donohue, Alex Moggridge, Triney Sandoval, Marjorie Johnson, Bruce McKenzie, Ramiz Monsef, Sharon Washington and of course Les Waters.)

The big deal gathering of Connecticut-known thespians, however, was at a party launching the “newly new NEW migrant theater company” New Neighborhood. The company was formed as the result of the cameraderie, commercial success and critical acclaim that arose from the production of These Paper Bullets! at the Yale Repertory Theatre in the Spring of 2014.

Playwright Rolin Jones, who freely and frenetically adapted These Paper Bullets! from Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing, and then arranged for Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day to pen original songs which suited Jones’ swinging-‘60s Beatlesque update, is a driving force behind the new company, but this thing has “creative collective” stamped all over it. Yale, which commissioned These Paper Bullets!, has been hugely supportive of the endeavor, helping staffers associated with the show arrange to work with the new company while continuing with their university endeavors.

This is wonderful news for those of us who loudly championed These Paper Bullets! as a special kind of theater, created jointly by amiable alums of the Yale School of Drama, using collaborative technique they’d weaned years earlier as students. The show had a freshness and vitality that is practically unique to ensemble student endeavors such as the Yale Cabaret. It was  remarkable to see that spirit writ large at Yale Rep. To learn that the perpetrators will carry on with further productions of These Paper Bullets!, as well as many brand-new projects, is a gift that the American theater may not yet fully understand the wonderment of.

The official list of “Neighbors” in the New Neighborhood, as provided on a press release, are:

James Barry (Yell Leader), Broken Chord (Garbage Men), Rob Chikar (Pinsetter), Patch Darragh (Police Chief), Damon Daunno (Peeping Tom), Stephen DeRosa (Karaoke Host), Bryan Fenkart (Demolitionist), Ceci Fernandez (Haberdasher), Jessica Ford (Animal Control), Jackson Gay (Green Grocer), Christopher Geary (Dog Walker), Linda Gehringer (Country Club Pro), Brad Heberlee (Parade Marshall), Nicholas Hussong (Cable Repair), Rolin Jones (Crossing Guard), Ryan Kattner (Werewolf), Jennifer Kiger (Scout Leader), Justin Kirk (Marriage Counselor), Tony Manna (Docent), Kelly L. Miller (Spelling Bee Champ), Andrew Musselman (Ice Cream Man), Keira Naughton (Notary Public), Adam O’Byrne (Little League President), Steven Padla (Paper Boy), Lucas Papaelias (LPFunK) (Librarian), Christian Parker (Handyman), Jeanine Serralles (Butcher), Seth (Sign Painter), Catherine Sheehy (Coroner), Greg Stuhr (Stay-at-Home Mom), Ariana Venturi (Compulsive Liar), Paul Whitaker (Street Sweeper), Liz Wisan (Cat Lady).

Jones, Gay, O’Byrne, Kiger, Sheehy, Papaelias, Naughton and Barry were among those I recognized at New Neighborhood’s self-thrown housewarming party at the bar META, a few blocks from the Actors Theatre of Louisville, in the midst of the final weekend of ATL’s 2015 Humana Festival. The New Neighborhood Party began around 12:30 a.m. on Saturday night. At around 2, the latest line-up of The Quartos—the Hard Day’s Night-style stars of These Paper Bullets!—performed half a dozen songs. One of the new members is Justin Kirk, of TV’s Weeds, Animal Practice, Jack & Jill and the Mike Nichols filming of Angels in America.

Kirk will play Ben (TPB’s equivalent of Much Ado’s Benedick), the role created by David Wilson Barnes at Yale Rep last year. Kirk was a most ingratiating lead singer on a couple of songs and a strong team player on the others, strumming those Merseybeat chords mightily.

Any party where The Quartos sing their rockin’ “hey nonny nonny”s has to be the theater party of the year. But this was even better because of the sheer delirious love of live theater that bounced merrily around that small bar. New Neighborhood exists because its members love what they do and want to do it together, now, even though many of them are taking time away from more lucrative TV, movie or teaching jobs to do it. They chose the Humana Festival as the place to profess this love, and hundreds of kindred spirits involved in similar labors-of-love in Kentucky joined them in the celebration.

Party’s over. Now come the shows. In July, New Neighborhood will present the world premiere of Suzanne Heathcote’s drama I Saw My Neighbor on the Train and I Didn’t Even Smile at the Unicorn Theatre in Stockbridge Mass., as a co-production with the Berkshire Theatre Group.

Then there will be two presentations of of the Yale Repertory Theatre production of These Paper Bullets!, Sept. 8 through Oct. 18 at the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles and sometime in November & December at the Atlantic Theater Company in New York City. This a co-production of the earlier Yale Rep production, and New Neighborhood is making all the right decisions about how to keep the show’s distinctive style and energy. Most of the original cast and creative team is being retained, at considerable expense, in order to assure the requisite pizzazz.

New Neighborhood is also developing projects for Fox Television (one is Dependable Dittmers, We Sell Cars, inspired by an episode of NPR’s This American Life) and presenting stage events such as the established pop/comedy cabaret act The Petersons (featuring These Paper Bullets! cast member Keira Naughton) in The Petersons! Live from the Carousel Club, November 21, 1963, One Night Only!

The mind boggles. The paper bullets fly. The kick-off party was memorable, but the best is yet to come.

Here’s some shaky footage, taken on my iPhone, of Rolin Jones introducing The Quartos at META:

Posted in Yale Repertory Theatre
Tagged New Neighborhood
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