8/3/2015        LILLIAN LIKES IT              Essential Theatre Play Festival

Click here to read the article on the Atlanta Theatre Buzz website!

*****  ( A+ ) 

#ATBUZZ_LIKES_IT

On-Line Relationships are easy.  All communication is controlled (flame wars aside) and there is none of that messy body-language/subtext/why-don’t-you-know-what-I’m-thinking messiness that plague relationships IRL.

There is nothing new or groundbreaking about this, especially those of us who predate the “plugged-in” generations.  But Joshua Mikel’s “Lillian Likes It” frames the theme in an entertainment so alive, so emotionally rich, so seems-so-hip-to-us-old-farts that the obvious quickly becomes sublime.

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Meet Alex Feliciano, the artist whose artwork is featured in this summer’s Eyedrum exhibit at the West End Performing Arts Center.

Alex’s works for this show are a slice of a complex and vibrant moment inside of what is often a mundane piece of reality.. Each piece is an effort to extract a cross-section from a commonplace experiences and show their wonder. His theme, “Some thing happened”, is an effort to illustrate the idea that we are all part of a bigger stories. Each piece is a slice out of these moments, moments we all share.

The Process:
In the end I made 16,

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Diane Dexter of Decatur, GA is the author of this week’s Bare Essentials reading, Deli. Deli is about a family that is trying to hang on to its business in the face of change. They are fighting declines in the neighborhood and fighting each other.

Tell us a little bit about yourself and your inspiration for writing this play.
I’m a professional journalist, and I live in Decatur with my husband, Jim, (who portrays Judge in the play) and our dog Emma. I grew up near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and I saw a lot of thriving little towns go under,

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7/25/2015        THE OLD SHIP OF ZION          Essential Theatre Play Festival

****   ( B ) 

FINDING FAMILY

It has been said that a church is not merely “brick and mortar,” but is really the faith and fellowship that dwell therein.  (Just Google “Church is Not Brick and Mortar” and count the Biblical references to the idea.)  As a crotchety old Atheist, the concept rarely (if ever) occupies my “inner monologue.”  But sometimes, a work of theatre cloaks itself in the paradigms and tropes of Biblical Axioms, and, if it “reaches out and grabs my heart,”

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New this year, the Essential Marketplace is a vendor space at the theatre where patrons can view, enjoy and even purchase art created by Essential company members and friends past and present. Proceeds will go directly to the artists themselves, and wares can be anything from greeting cards to paintings to wood and metal works to jewelry, clothing and more.

We got the idea for the Marketplace over a period of time, starting when Be the Change People, Inc approached us before our 2014 Festival and asked if they could sell their wares before performances of That Uganda Play.

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-by Peter Hardy

Vynnie Meli is a local playwright and member of Working Title Playwrights.  In 2008, she won the Essential Theatre Playwriting Award for JIM CROW AND THE RHYTHM DARLINGS, about an all-female jazz band of (mostly) African-Americans touring the American south during World War Two.  One of our patrons called it “the most powerful play I’ve ever seen.”

Since then, Vynnie has worked on a number of projects including the book and lyrics for a musical called PLAGUED: A LOVE STORY that, after workshops with Working Title, was chosen for development at the New York Musical Theater Festival. 

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OLD SHIP OF ZION play opening press release

Atlanta, July 2015 – Join us for the professional world premiere of The Old Ship of Zion, by Columbus, GA playwright Natalia Naman, opening July 24.

A warm, touching play about the members of a small African-American church, struggling to keep its doors open and adapt to changing times. Mama Gwen is a beloved elder who feels the burden of others who depend on the strength of her faith, and Quincy is a young man who loves his church but is beginning to realize that he’s gay.

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Musicals abound this summer, both here in town and across the country. Check out these Georgia playwrights who are making music in New York in the next few months:

Vynnie Meli’s second New York Musical Theatre Festival contribution, A Capella, will take the stage this summer as part of the 12th NYMF. Her first NYMF musical was Plagued – A Love Story, which was part of the 2009 Festival. NYMF selects upwards of 50 new projects each year to present over its three-week summer season.

Daryl Fazio’s lift is part of the lineup for the 27th Annual Festival of New Musicals, 

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2015 Essential Theatre Play Festival Press Release JULY

Atlanta, July 2015 – The 17th Annual Essential Theatre Festival kicks off July 24 at the West End Performing Arts Center, located at 945 Ralph David Abernathy Boulevard in Atlanta. This summer, Essential will be presenting the World Premiere of the 2015 playwriting award winner, Lillian Likes It by Joshua Mikel, and the Professional World Premiere of The Old Ship of Zion, by Columbus, GA native Natalia Naman.

New this year, in addition to the two fully staged plays and the Bare Essentials Reading Series,

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