March 2022 Liz writes...

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I did do a wee bit of voice acting work recently, for a friend who's always been an amazing human - you can check out Pam Theodotou's gorgeous project here: Pandora Project

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But it's been quite a time, hasn't it?

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Who knew that March 2020 would mark the end of the world as we knew it, that nothing would be the same? And now, war.

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When the world shut down, most of my work did, too. I kept working, because I do, always, but not making art, so much; I took additional hours at Whole Foods, found work as a census taker, got work doing contact tracing for Partners in Health as they worked with Massachusetts trying to contain and help fight the pandemic, even did some online transcription work. Slowly things began to restart, and I added Zoom murder mysteries thru the same murder mystery company, and Ghosts & Gravestones slowly, cautiously, with a great deal of disinfecting and social distancing, started running again. Then teaching started again, for BPS, and I was in to the bittersweet end at a middle school that shut down for good in June 2021.

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So I shifted gears. I'd applied for work in airport security, and picked a couple of airports in Hawaii I thought I'd like to work at. And I got the job. And bought a place to live. And, well, here I am, poking around with music now and then, checking out the sea turtles and whales, and recharging some very depleted reserves of energy. I've been chronicling my adventures on Facebook through it all.
 

Stay safe, everyone.

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June 2019 Liz writes...

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Goodness, it's been a while since I updated here! As usual (and isn't that a kick), it's been an extremely eventful time!  I had the honor of being nominated for a Norton award for best actress small/fringe for my work in Noir Hamlet, alongside dear friends who were also nominated in the same category (one of whom won for her beautiful work in Dark Room, as did our director - my congratulations to Jen and Olivia!). I'm deeply grateful and it was a lovely night.

 

We said a bittersweet goodbye on May 4 to Zeitgeist Stage and their final production, Trigger Warning. This was an intense, demanding experience for both actors and audience, and I'm grateful to everyone who worked on it and everyone who came out to see this - thank you!

 

I've also had the honor and pleasure of being a teaching artist this school year with Company One, teaching drama at a bilingual high school in the Boston Public Schools; that is also wrapping up now, and it's bittersweet coming to the end of my time with my amazing students. The young people I worked with first semester missed me, and have been coming back and visiting me, all semester long; it's hard to wind things down for the year now but also welcome. I'm grateful to Company One and my colleagues for their support and kindness all this year. Moving forward, I'm excited to start working with younger students this summer as a teaching artist for Boston Children's Theatre - that'll be fun!

 

Next up for me onstage, something a bit lighter: I'll be playing M'Lynn in Hub Theatre Co. of Boston's production of Steel Magnolias. It's directed by Paula Plum, and we have a fantastic cast, so this is truly a joy to work on. Since the great Ms. Plum is also appearing in a play in Gloucester at the same time as directing us, we have a rather relaxed/elongated/crammed-in-to-available-time rehearsal schedule - perfect for this beautiful weather, and for inserting a little sanity into my normally frenetic life. We open on July 19 at Club Cafe, and run through August 3 - tickets are live now, here, and as always are pay what you can for every performance. We may add a matinee somewhere in there - I'll update when we know more.

 

Coming up in November, I'll be back at Hub with their production of The Last Days of Judas Iscariot, working with director Steve Bogart. I'm also continuing to book murder mysteries and other oddball gigs here and there - I really mean it about the frenetic schedule, as most of you already know.  I'll also be working on some smaller projects, and hopefully have a regular gig or two to share news about soon.

 

As always, I'm grateful for your support, your kind words, and your smiling faces, and I hope to see you at the theatre!

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May 2018 Liz writes...

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We're in the final weekend of First Love Is the Revolution, and it's a real winner - come check us out before you miss it!  Running through this Saturday, May 5 - tickets available here: https://web.ovationtix.com/trs/pr/980343 or call 617-887-2336 -  you can of course purchase tickets at the door, too.  We are at Apollinaire's indoor home, Chelsea Theatre Works at 189 Winnisimmet St., Chelsea. I know some of you have already seen it, and thank you for the glowing reviews.  Jump in, folks!
 

Next up is a flurry of other work:  I'll be performing in the Boston Theatre Marathon on Sunday May 6 (so won't be overindulging at the wrap party for First Love), during the 1-2pm slot, in a lovely two-hander by Cassie Seinuk; Sam Warton and I are under Michael Hisamoto's deft direction, and the Lyric is our sponsoring organization.  Pretty cool, eh?  If you haven't yet gotten your tickets, here's the link for that: https://www.bostontheatrescene.com/season/Boston-Theater-Marathon-XX/
 

I'm also in the midst of directing two nifty short plays for Open Theatre Project's Gay Shorts 2: We Are Family.  We have a friendly competition going between the plays, so if you use this code, DroppingOff2018 , my teams will get credit for you and we will Win Fabulous Prizes.  And you'll get to see a Fabulous Show!  I'm directing "Dropping Off" by Patrick Gabridge and Sam Lasman, and "A Little Experimenting" by Rhea MacCallum, with some wonderful actors:  Evelyn Holley (who's in both, bless her), Caroline Keeler, and Caryn May.  It'll be a wonderful run!  Opening is May 24 at Club Cafe, and we run through June 2. More info is here: https://www.theopentheatre.com/gay-shorts-lgtbq-plays Ticket link here: https://www.artful.ly/store/events/14720

 

After that, we start rehearsal with Joe Antoun's Centastage for John Minigan's original full-length piece, Noir Hamlet.  I just got the latest script tweaks this week and I'm absolutely over the moon about working with the whole team on this one - so exciting!  This one runs June 14 through 30 at the Plaza Black Box Theatre at Boston Center for the Arts, 539 Tremont Street, Boston.  Whee! 
 

AND...once that's done, I'll be working with the fabulous team at Bridge Rep on another world premiere play, Dark Room by George Brant.  If our workshops so far are any indication, it'll be an immersive experience, and really powerful stuff.  More on those last two as Things Develop.
 

We're wrapping up the tours for Bay Colony Shakespeare Co. this coming week - I'll miss it!  I've posted a new photo, of me as Capulet mourning dead Juliet. 

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April 2018 Liz writes...

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April 2, and it's snowing as I write this - fortunately, it'll melt soon.  We open First Love Is the Revolution on April 13 at Apollinaire Theatre in Chelsea, and it's looking quite wonderful!  Last night was our first stumble-through, where I had a chance to see scenes that I'm not in, and wow, I'm delighted with how marvelous this cast is (and with how much fun it is working with them).  Tickets are available here - you don't want to miss this one.  I play a chicken.  Really.  It's awesome.  The play is a US premiere, and definitely not for children - most of the characters are animals, but it's more like Animal Farm than You're a Good Man Charlie Brown.

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Other cool stuff coming up fairly soon is Gay Shorts Part 2: We Are Family, with Open Theatre Project.  You may recall I directed a couple of pieces in the first go-round, last spring?  Well, it went so well that we're back!  I'm directing another two short plays for this one - info for the whole delightful extravaganza (including a link for tickets) is here.  This year, brunch will be involved.  What more could one wish?

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The productions of Noir Hamlet and Dark Room are still chugging along (hooray!!!); it looks like I'll be performing a solo piece this summer, too, which I have started writing.  And yes, still touring with Bay Colony Shakespeare Co., still doing murder mysteries with The Murder Mystery Co. when I can.  Onward we go! 

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February 2018 Liz writes...

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Well, as happens sometimes, Happy Days has had a scheduling disaster and will be postponed, probably until October.  I'll be doing a staged reading soon, just as rehearsals for First Love Is the Revolution get under way, and I am continuing to perform Lady Macbeth (as I write this, we're in the midst of a four show week!) and Capulet with Bay Colony Shakespeare Co.  I'm also gearing up for a more intensive teaching job search for next year - wish me luck!

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January 2018 Liz writes…

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Lots to report, for which I am deeply grateful.  I'll go chronologically:  I’m directing a clump of plays in the One Minute Play Festival again – this is a city-wide festival that will perform at Boston Playwrights’ Theatre on Jan. 6-7-8-9, with my clump performing the 8th & 9th.  Come on out!  Tickets for that are here. I’m also delighted to be doing some pop-up performance at Fort Point Channel Theatre’s 10th anniversary celebration on Jan. 11th – more info here.

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As of this writing, I am now booked for performance projects that stretch all the way through mid-August.  All of them will push me artistically, and my colleagues on these are all breathtaking, wonderful artists, and I’m honored (and a little giddy) to have this embarrassment of riches ahead.  First up is a doozy - a "bucket list" part, in fact:  I’ll be playing Winnie in Beckett’s Happy Days, running March 3-11 at the Calderwood Pavilion, with a new group called Omphalos Performance Project.  After that is a beautiful play called First Love Is the Revolution by Rita Kalnejais, running April 13-May 5 at one of my favorite places to work, Apollinaire Theatre Company in Chelsea, MA.  Then I’ll be back at the Calderwood, and will have the pleasure of working on John Minigan’s Noir Hamlet, running June 14-28.  Immediately after that, I’ll begin working on another new piece, Dark Room by George Brant, which Bridge Rep will present at the Cambridge Multicultural Arts Center; previews are currently set to begin July 28 and we’ll run through Aug. 16.  There may be some shifting to dates, etc. for these; I'll post updates here as I get them.

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On top of all that, I'm continuing the work I was doing this fall: tours with Bay Colony Shakespeare Co., working as an actor at the Kennedy Institute, picking up murder mystery gigs whenever I can, and teaching occasionally at Urban Science Academy and elsewhere.  I will also be taking short breaks to rest and recharge, and finishing my thesis for my MA in English at Harvard Extension School.  

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See you at the theatre!

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November 2017 Liz writes...

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We are deep into the run of Julius Caesar with Actors' Shakespeare Project , and I'm delighted and honored to be doing this work with this group of artists.  We've been getting wonderful press coverage, wonderful audiences, and I'm still a little amazed at how lovely the whole experience is, from the gorgeous text I get to say 6 or 7 times a week to the joy of each performance.  I'm playing Julius Caesar, Caesar's ghost, and Octavius Caesar, with an all-women cast and design team.  We run through Dec. 17 at the Huntington's Studio 210.  Come see us if you can!

 

John Greiner-Ferris' Plank wrapped up a successful run at the Calderwood Pavilion with Alley Cat Theatre Co. in August and September, and that was another occasion for rejoicing in the work of my colleagues.  I am also touring schools as Lady Macbeth and Capulet in Bay Colony Shakespeare Co.'s productions of Macbeth and Romeo and Juliet, and that's been enormously rewarding.  It did make for some challenging moments as I was working text for three different Shakespeare plays, but it helped to have a leg up on Lady M from having played it last year.  This holiday season, I'm also starting work with Big Smile Productions in their holiday shows, singing carols and being a Snow Queen, in addition to ongoing work with The Murder Mystery Co. New England.  And I've also begun working at the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the U.S. Senate as an actor, delivering Senate speeches in their beautiful reproduction of the Senate chamber.

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In short, I have great big handfuls of satisfying work! 

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April 24 update:  I won! IRNE award for best leading actress in a play, small theatre (fringe)!  I am honored and deeply touched, and enormously grateful.

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April 2017 Liz writes...

I just finished up working on a nifty short play by Ron Radice called "Nematodes" as part of Roxbury Repertory Theater's "6 Playwrights in Search of a Stage" event, and I'm so grateful for the wonderful work of cast and production team, and for the people who came to see it, too - thank you.  Three cheers for cast JP Nadeau, Christie Reading, and Dana Block - you were terrific!  The event also honored Robbie McCauley as RRT's playwright laureate for 2017, and it was an honor to be present and involved.
 

I'm delighted to say that I will be playing "Mercedes/Chop" in John Greiner-Ferris' new play Plank.  I finally get to work with John, and director Megan Schy Gleeson, and I'm pretty excited!  We'll have a staged reading as part of Theatre on Fire's "Cabinet of Curiosities" at Charlestown Working Theatre, 442 Bunker Hill Ave., Charlestown, MA, at 7:30pm on Wednesday, May 17.  From there we go to possible workshopping somewhere secluded, and then we start rehearsals in earnest in late July for a run that goes August 26 - Sept. 16 at the Calderwood Pavilion, Boston Center for the Arts, Tremont St., Boston.  Here's Alley Cat Theater's link for all the info: http://www.alleycattheater.org/plank1.html

I'm also going to be in a remount of John Geoffrion's "Bad Hamlet" this summer, at the Fringe Seacoast - we did this piece at the Providence Fringe last year and it was simply wonderful.  I'm really looking forward to playing with the text again, with almost all of the cast from last year - whee! Link for the festival (there isn't much info there yet, but fwiw): https://www.fringeseacoast.org/fs-2017
 

Next: two more directing projects. The first is a short piece for It's A Fiasco's offering in the Boston Theatre Marathon, "Protocol" by Brenda Foley, which will be terrific - Jen Lewis, Kim Carrell, and Alan White, and I can't wait I can't wait I can't wait!  That goes up May 14th.  The other directing project is a staged reading of a full length play by Kira Rockwell for Theatre @ First's FirstWorks program; we'll be doing the reading June 22, one night only.

 

Coming in the fall, I'll be touring schools in Bay Colony Shakespeare's productions of Macbeth and Romeo and Juliet. More on that later; it's going to be very special.  I've wanted to work with this company for a couple of years, now, and it's such a pleasure to have this wonderful opportunity to look forward to.

 

And next week...well, Monday (April 24) is the IRNEs, of course, and I'm very much looking forward to seeing people I see far too little of and celebrating the spectacular work Boston theatre artists produced last year.  It was a doozy.  I'm honored and grateful to have been nominated. Link: https://www.youcaring.com/irneawards-769410
 

The morning after the IRNEs, I fly to New York to do a series of six quick performances in the ensemble presenting This Is Treatment, a breathtaking new musical by Elizabeth Addison. I'm amazed by the music and the performances of my colleagues at every rehearsal. If you happen to be in town, here's the link to come check us out: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/this-is-treatment-at-pearl-studios-tickets-33121921559?aff=efbevent 

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March 2017 Liz writes...

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I have a cascade of directing projects in progress right now:  two short plays for Open Theatre Project's "Gay Shorts," which is a collection of plays all by George Smart; those go up March 30-31-April 1 at Club Cafe.  We have a wonderful cast and I think it'll be a terrific show!  I've been trying to work with OTP for a while, now, and I'm so glad we've finally found time and a project.  That's followed by the annual "6 Playwrights in Search of a Stage" project with Roxbury Repertory Theater at Roxbury Community College, performances at Hibernian Hall  - more details on that to come, and there are some exciting details.  We just finished play selection and I'm thrilled with the pieces we'll be presenting.  Performances for that will be April 14 & 15, at Hibernian Hall.  I'm also working with Theatre@First again (finally!) on a new play from their development process called First Works; I've started meeting with a playwright whose play has been selected by T@F, and I'll be directing the piece as we gear up for presentation of the work.  

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Performances coming up - and I do have some:  Pazzi Lazzi will perform next at Aeronaut Brewery on April 30!  I am also very excited that I've just been cast in a cut of Elizabeth Addison's new musical "This Is Treatment," which we will perform in New York for backers on April 25 & 26. 

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Nominations for the IRNE awards are out!  I've been nominated for best actress (fringe) for my role in Wit!  AND - my castmates in Wit and Dog Act are also nominated, AND my director for Wit was nominated for best director, AND both Wit and Dog Act are nominated for best play (fringe).  Good friends' work recognized up and down the list - I'm so proud of this community, and grateful to be part of it.

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January 2017 Liz writes...

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The year started with the One Minute Play Festival! I directed a clump of 6 plays written by women-identified playwrights, and got to work with some truly lovely people.  Murder mystery work is ongoing, as is commedia.  Pazzi Lazzi has show dates booked at Dartmouth College, and at Northeastern University.  I'll be doing some role-play work for Harvard Law School students this week.  New projects in development - stay tuned.
 

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