Lauren Pisano in Theatre East’s 2023 production of Muses directed by Judson Jones
A big thank you to the Association for Theatre in Higher Education for including Muses among its finalists for the 2024 Judith Royer Award in playwriting. More info, along with a list of other nominees are here.
Karula is back and now streaming on Twitch.tv! Watch the first stream live on Aug 30, 6pm-8pmET!
Christa Kimlicko-Jones (Assistant Director, Producer), Margaret Montagna (Sound Design), Mikey McNulty (Front of House, Producer), Lauren Pisano (Emily), Judson Jones (director), Thammie Quach (Grace), Julia Rae Maldonado (playwright), Joseph Dean Anderson (Sam), Corin Greene (Stage Manager), Lauren Sowa (Kate) and Zach Murphy (Lighting Design)
We had an amazing opening night last night at the Court Square Theatre! Thanks to everyone who made it out, and for those who haven’t yet tickets are here!
Tickets are now on sale for Muses produced by Theatre East @ The Court Square Theatre in LIC!
This play has been on a long journey… special thanks to Lizzy Jarrett & She Creates, Pandora Scooter & the ATG Play Lab and of course the Theatre East Writer’s Room all of whom played an important part in this play’s development.
The play runs May 11 - June 3 and tickets are $35.
Last night we were lucky enough to have our first rehearsal at Theatre East’s new home, The Court Street Theatre. This is where the fun begins. What a thrill to hear the voices of these characters for the first time from our terrific cast: Lauren Pisano, Thammie Quach, Joseph Dean Anderson and Lauren Sowa! How exciting to get a peak into Emily’s world from the brilliant light and set designer Zach Murphy. He’s a wizard.
For many years, Theatre East has been my artistic home. Judson Jones (director), Christa Kimlicko-Jones (assistant director) and Mike McNulty (managing director) are my theatre family. It can be a little scary to hand over a play you’ve worked on for such a long time on your own to your collaborators! So I couldn’t feel more pleased about getting to depart on this journey with my dear friends.
More soon…
-J.
This Spring, Theatre East will present the world premiere production of Muses directed by Judson Jones. The play will run from May 11 - Jun 3. Tickets available soon.
GirlSoup’s short film Let’s Leave the Planet was co-written by JRM and Michael Lamarra. It will make its New York City debut on Sat Aug 13th, 3pm. For more info on the festival and to order tickets, go here.
Watch the trailer below:
Tara is a bored stoner without much going on… until her boyfriend, Andy, tells her that he’s an alien and they should leave earth ASAP. But is he just messing with her, or what…?
Let’s Leave the Planet! was written by JRM & Michael Lamarra, directed by Chelsea B. Lockie and features performances from JRM and Jeff Gorcyca. For more on GirlSoup check out: The GirlSoup Collective
REQUIEM FOR A BAR, a new short play by JRM, will be among the five plays included in this year’s 5x5 Drama Series Dec 16, 17 & 18 at 7:30pm in Long Island City. Tickets are available on a suggested donation basis.
The play is directed by Judson Jones and features performances by Julio Lourido, Kelsey Sheppard and Kathleen Simmonds.
For more info and to reserve tickets please visit Theatre East's website.
LYING FLAT, a new digital short play by JRM will run as a part of Stella Adler’s New Works Performance Intensive this weekend along side new plays by Stephanie Fagan and Travis Tate. The New Works Performance Intensive is a unique program for student teen actors to work on a brand new play by a professional playwright written specifically for them. This is JRM’s 6th play included in the program.
Admission is free, but requires a digital reservation. For more info and to reserve tickets click here.
…a clip from the latest episode of KARULA’S DREAM SHOW LIVE, an official selection of SOLOCOM hosted by THE PIT NYC!
Written by… Julia Rae Maldonado
Guest Director … Alex Parkinson
Karula… Kim Berrios Lin
Annabella Spark… Kate Taney Billingsley
Captain Bananas… Robocop the Cat & Jeff Gorcyca
Editor/Producer… Kim Berrios Lin
Creative Team… Bianca Puorto, Julia Rae Maldonado & Kim Berrios Lin.
(Originally develped as part of the 5x5 Drama Series with Theatre East!
For the full episode, follow @karulasdreamshow or visit the tumblr.
JUNTOS, a short play written during lockdown, is one of the top 30 finalists in the 2021 Samuel French Off Off Broadway Festival. The play, formerly known as Y Tú, Y Tú, Y Tú was produced virtually this past fall by Artists in Residence directed by Julián Juaquín.
In JUNTOS, a small, nomadic family in a post apocalyptic world encounters something they haven’t seen in a long time: a settlement of other people.
For more information on JUNTOS at OOB go here!
Good news Voyagers! The one and only KARULA and her faithful sidekick CAPTAIN BANANAS will be performing a brand new live and interpreting your dreams live as a part of SOLOCOM hosted by THE PIT NYC!!
ONE NIGHT ONLY! 6/6 at 4:20pm on YouTube Live.
Starring Kim Berrios Lin
Created & Written by Julia Rae Maldonado
Directed by Bianca Puorto
Tickets will be available at The PIT’s website!
For updates follow Karula on Instagram @karulasdreamshow.
Stills from Giving In To the Bit by Khalif J. Gillett, The Rave by Juan Cortes, Hail Elisha by Jake Brasch, The Basement by Yha Mourhia Wright, Lies We Tell Ourselves in the Dark by Isabella Gonzalez, and Zookeepers by Julia Rae Maldonado
Check out this New York Theater review of LAB’s Intensive Ensemble Night of the Barn Series which reflects on how Zoom theatre from the emerging artists of the moment may influence art and theatre in the future.
I enjoyed watching “The Zookeepers,” written by Julia Rae Maldonado and directed by Yair Kaos, a Zoom call late at night among employees of the Bronx Zoo, because one of them, Oscar, is concerned about Eddie’s behavior during the pandemic. “ Eddie’s a very sensitive elephant,” Oscar says. “I think he misses all the people.”
“I don’t miss all the people,” one of Oscar’s colleagues retorts. “This is like a dream come true for me. All animals and no people.”
The group suggests ways to make Eddie feel better – get him a mate, give him a hot dust bath, have him take up painting, even trade him for an elephant at a California zoo for a change of scenery (“Hard no on trading Eddie, bro,” Oscar says.)
IE Night included new work developed over the summer by the 2020 Intensive Ensemble. The plays capture a fraught moment in history in the midst of a pandemic and a national racial reckoning, all while exploring a totally new medium of storytelling.
In ‘THE ZOOKEEPERS’, the exhausted essential staff from the Bronx Zoo Mammal Department are holding a late-night emergency meeting over Zoom to discuss how the lockdown is affecting a very beloved elephant. Directed by Yair Koas and featuring performances by Rocío Mendez, Andres Santiago Piña, Cristian Santiago, Meagan Olkers and Rebecca Schneebaum.
You can watch ‘THE ZOOKEEPERS’ along side five other great plays developed in the 2020 Intensive Ensemble on February 24th! Visit LAByrinth’s website for more information and free registration.
THE ZOOKEEPERS, a short play by Julia Rae Maldonado developed with with the Labyrinth Theatre’s Intensive Ensemble, has won the first inaugural L.B. Williams Playwriting Contest for BIPOC Writers along side seven other wonderful plays: Boy, by Cris Eli Blak, Kiss, by Diana Burbano, The Peace of Home, by Mildred Inez Lewis, White Gloves, by B.V. Marshall, Sundown Town, by Marcus Scott and Conversation: The Quiet Supporter, by Meredith A. Watson
Shooting wrapped this weekend for GirlSOUP’s latest project, a stoner sci-fi written by JRM & Michael Lamarra, directed by Chelsea B. Lockie and with performances by JRM and Jeff Gorcyca.
GirlSOUP is collective of five multidisciplinary storytellers creating strange & original content for film.
You can now reserve a virtual seat for THE QUARANTINE PLAYS, a new play festival by Artists in Residence (AIR), including Y Tú, Y Tú, Y Tú directed by Julián Juaquin and featuring Julián Juaquin, Ermina Pérez & Carlos Rivera Marrero.
Tickets are available in exchange for a pay-what-you-can donation to the Actors Fund of Canada. Canadian viewers can reserve their seats and donate through AIR’s website. American viewers can email artistsinresidence2020@gmail.com to place a reservation and venmo @TheQPlays to make a donation.
Starring Kim Berrios Lin with Steph Fagan and Kate Taney Billingsley. Special appearances by Czarina Mada, Michael Lamarra and James Yuhas.
Created & Written by Julia Rae Maldonado
Directed by Bianca Puorto
Karula’s Dream Show Live is now on a brief hiatus while the creative team prepares for season 2! Follow @karulasdreamshow for updates. For more info, find us on Tumblr.
