Posted by Fetch
Mon, 07 Apr 2008 16:01:00 GMT
Masquerade: calypso and home will be heading to Chicago this May. The University of Illinois at Chicago will be hosting Roger Bonair-Agard’s one-man show at the Jane Addams Hull House during the week of May 12th. Jennifer Conley Darling, Bruce Steinberg and our own, Melissa Jernigan will also be in attendance as Producer, Production Manager and Stage Manager respectively. Roger’s show was first performed through terraNOVA Collective’s annual soloNOVA series. From there, the show has been presented at Centerstage in Chelsea and Barrow Street Theatre’s Fortnight Festival. The show is directed by Kamilah Forbes (producer of Peabody Award Winning HBO Series, Def Poetry Jam and Monica L. Williams (curator at The Zipper Factory).
Will Cordeiro of the “Cornell Daily Sun” has this to say about the show: “…Mr. Bonair-Agard… possessed a commanding stage presence that gave way to a casual rapport with his audience, enhanced by the lilting rhythm of his lightly accented inflections.”
Victor D. Infante says “…it’s Bonair-Agard’s strong, expressive voice and mesmerizing Caribbean accent that hook you. … There’s defiance in Bonair-Agard’s writing and also struggle, emotional depth and, above all else, survival. This is a staggeringly important poet, one worthy of attention.”
About Roger: Roger has appeared three times on Russell Simmons’ Def Poetry Jam on HBO and aims to blow the hinges off what is considered possible, to create work that discomforts with the truths and lies it exposes down to every forensic detail, and so create a movement of its very own, such that when the poems are read, they birth new mythologies in the reader’s memory. He is co-author of Burning Down the House (Soft Skull Press, 2000), and author of Tarnish and Masquerade, his first collection of poetry (Rattapallax Press, 2007). He co-founded and is the Artistic Director of the louderARTS Project, an organization dedicated to the evolution of poetry through the craft of writing and performance. Roger is also a Cave Canem fellow, studying with such luminaries as Yusef Komunyakaa, Marilyn Nelson, and Cornelius Eady. In 1998, he was named the Nuyorican Poets Café Fresh Poet of the Year. That same year, he coached the Nuyorican team to victory in the National Poetry Slam. The following year he earned the title of National Individual Slam Champion while leading and coaching the New York City louderARTS team to the final four of the National Poetry Slam, a feat he repeated in 2000. He is currently working on a new collection entitled EXTRA COVER: To be young, black and fast – poems from a West Indian cricket history.
Masquerade: calypso and home is available for bookings, workshops, and residencies. If you are interested in bringing this amazing show to your part of the world, please contacts Jennifer Conley Darling at jennifer@terranovacollective.org or visit terraNOVA Collective’s Website.
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Posted by Fetch
Thu, 03 Apr 2008 16:06:00 GMT
The first time I had the opportunity to work with On the Leesh was in September of 2007, Alicia and Julie hired me to be the Stage Manager for “A Yorkshire Fairie Tale”. I was thrilled to be working with such an understanding, creative and hardworking group of people. (I was also happy to find that Alicia and Julie were some great female role models!) After the show ended I was very interested in doing more work with On the Leesh so I bugged and bugged them until they finally agreed to hire me part-time, as an associate producer.
I am currently in the office three days a week helping with the workload. (I get to bug them every mon, tue and wed – they love it). I answer phone calls, respond to e-mail and go to the post office (a lot!). I also head up the festival submissions department and am doing line producing for our webseries and short/feature length films. Next on my plate is a three-day Adobe Photoshop class that I will be taking here in New York. I am very excited for this opportunity. (Be sure to be on the look out for some amazing “fish-eye” action!)
While working with On the Leesh I have been exposed to a number of different art forms that I had not previously worked with before. Since most of my background is in theatre I am excited to now be doing behind the camera stuff with our films and webseries.
I got my B.A. in Theatrical Arts with an emphasis in Technical Theatre from California State University, Sacramento. While attending Sac State I was able to work in a number of different mediums from Stage Managing, Acting, Media Design, Sound Design and Scenic Design. Most of my recent New York Theatre experiences have been in the Stage Managing area. However, since producing and Stage Managing have similar requirements I find working at On the Leesh to be very beneficial to my growth as a creator.
I currently live in Manhattan with my gorgeous husband Greg and my beautiful Havanese, Lola.
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Posted by Fetch
Tue, 01 Apr 2008 16:15:00 GMT
This weekend we will be holding an informal reading of a new play by “Yorkshire Fairie Tale” author, Tom Diggs. This will be On the Leesh’s second teaming with Tom and we’re really looking forward to working with him again. Tom holds a Masters from NYU andwas the student chosen to represent the University for Theatre Masters – a national playwriting performance at the Atlantic Theatre Second Stage. He was also nominated by NYU for the Humanitas Award for student writers. The Kennedy Center (with the National New Play Network and Stanford University) recently awarded Thomas his first commission – to write a play about the dismantling of the Fairness Doctrine. His short play, “Nu Shu,” was nominated for a Samuel French Award in the Off-Off Broadway Short Play Festival. “Nu Shu” was also a part of last year’s Short Play Festival at the Kennedy Center in 2006.
The informal reading will be held at the On the Leesh offices on Saturday, April 5th.
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Posted by Fetch
Tue, 25 Mar 2008 20:14:00 GMT
The shoot we had planned for our feature film this weekend went amazingly well. We were thrilled to have had such a great cast and crew to work with (including a number of extras that were willing to get to the location at 5AM). On Sunday, we shot at a bar in DUMBO called reBar (http://www.rebarnyc.com). This is a great bar and you should totally check it out. Each area of the bar has a different feel and it’s really open and had a great vibe.
We also had the pleasure of working with the amazing band, Backward Collective: Adam Headrick, Jason Presley and Spiro Edgos.
Check out some of our pictures from the shoot:
Brooke Rogers, an extra on the set plays drunken and passed out…
The three actress hang together…
Dustin Willingham playing Fred Dougal…
And the Boom Op…
The band plays…
Mary Micari as Donna in her flashback with the Ambassador (played by Desmond Dutcher)...
Lucy (played by Jessica Arinella) makes out with her on screen boyfriend (and real life husband), Todd (Matt Rashid)
Who also happens to be our director along with Alicia Arinella
And of course our fabulous director of photograpy, John Kelleran
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Posted by Fetch
Wed, 19 Mar 2008 18:39:00 GMT
This weekend OTL is shooting some more footage for our first feature film, For Belly. Most of the old crew is back and available for the shoot, including our DP John Kelleran,
Our production designer, Seth Gass
Our Production Sound Mixer, Dave Groman
And our Boom Operator (and the actor playing the role of Fred Dougal), Dustin Willingham
These scenes will focus more on the men in the lives of the three women.
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Posted by Fetch
Fri, 14 Mar 2008 14:51:00 GMT
For the past few months we have been busy editing the next 7 Super Styling Sessions DVDs. In November, we traveled to Massachusetts to film Sue Zecco and Jay Scruggs groom over ten dogs.
After the overwhelming success of the first nine videos, Jay and Sue reached out to On the Leesh to produce, edit and film another round of instructional Dog Grooming videos.
The next videos: The Maltese, The Miniature Schnauzer, The Cocker Spaniel, Scissoring, The Puppy, Bather/Brusher and a video for the average pet owners – will be available for purchase in April.
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Posted by Fetch
Thu, 13 Mar 2008 15:45:00 GMT
On the Leesh would like to congratulate everyone involved with the making of Denim for getting into the Berkshire’s International Film Festival. The festival takes place May 15-18.
Based on a true events, “Denim” humorously explores the great indignities people will go through to get laid.
Denim includes an amazing cast: PJ DeBoy from John Cameron Mitchell’s “Shortbus,” Rob Devaney, who recently starred in Brian DePalma’s “Redacted” and Sarah Ireland, who has appeared on such shows as “The Sopranos” and “Law & Order: Criminal Intent.”
Writer/director Jeff Lycett is an award winning screenwriter who has worked for and learned from Woody Allen.
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Posted by Fetch
Wed, 12 Mar 2008 16:34:00 GMT
After the huge success of our webseries: The In-Betweens of Holly Malone and In the Can, On the Leesh presents: The Sexually. Think “Entourage” meets “Spinal Tap.”
Britain’s next great punk band, The Napalms, lead by ripping guitarist Johnnie Napalm and their pelvic proned front man Juice, are now toiling in New York, having lost all their rights to both name and music (“bit of a problem, luv”). Super-Lawyer, Evelyn Harden is retuning them for new greatness as The Sexually. Aside from Juice’s addiction to himself, she has one more problem… the talent, the music, Johnnie, is missing!
Recently shot in a swanky office in Chelsea, “The Sexually” should have its premiere in April. Check out some some of our production stills and, if you can’t wait until April and want to get a taste now, check out some promo’s on our website: www.ontheleesh.com
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Posted by Fetch
Wed, 05 Mar 2008 18:34:00 GMT
Not long ago we were interviewed by the online magazine ActorsLife. We were approached after the writer, Laura Palotie saw our webseries, The In-Betweens of Holly Malone. We had a chance to sit down with Laura and talk about how the Internet and particularly webseries are changing the number of opportunities out there for actors, and how it’s getting more and more accessible for people to create their own work without it costing them their first born!
Check out the article at: ActorsLife
Thanks so much Laura!
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Posted by Fetch
Wed, 05 Mar 2008 17:25:00 GMT
On the Leesh was just informed by writer/director Liz Tucillo that her film (which OTL helped produce), “Claire” was just accepted to the Atlanta Film Festival! “Claire” is the story of loss, the grieving process, and an argument over a casserole dish.
Congratulations to Liz and everyone who worked on the short film!
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