Works-In-Progress

About this series:
As Dixon Place's signature activity, Performance Works-In-Progress (previously known as Under Construction) is one of our most successful ongoing programs. Presented several nights each month as schedule permits, this series focuses on new theatre, performance art, puppetry, dance, music and interdisciplinary collaborations from today's most innovative artists. The goal of the series is to feature a diversity of disciplines and perspectives, and to encourage artistic risk-taking in a supportive, intimate and professional environment. The projects presented are in varying stages of completion; some artists or groups use the program to put the finishing touches on their work before they take it to a larger venue, while others are presenting their projects to an audience for the first time.
Coming up:

---

Theater MoNday, January 30 at 7:30PM Nicholas Gorham GOD FREE THE QUEEN Tickets: $12 (advance); $15 / $10 stu/sen and TDF (door) Written and performed by Nicholas Gorham, musical arrangement by Victor F. DeMendonca Torres, additional direction by Matt Nasser. Featuring Charlotte Miller and Bradley Kal Hagen. Mixing a futurist style of poetry, iambic pentameter, prose, and music, Gorham takes a look at how the individual copes with trauma and the moments of clarity that pepper the descent of the mind. Inspired by Queen Elizabeth I and Mary, Queen of Scots, God Free The Queen explores the artists own experiences of loss, love and catharsis. An intimate and revealing portrait of preparing for ones journey to the emotional chopping block while winking and chuckling along the way. Artist-in-Residence, Theater / Dance, Musical Theater Tuesday, January 31 and Wednesday, february 1 at 7:30PM Nina Morrison / Fly By Night Theater* Arrow In / NEW WORK* Tickets: $12 (advance); $15 (door), $10 stu/sen
Jan. 31 (Nina Morrison only);
Feb. 1 (Morrison & Fly By Night) Arrow In (excerpt), created by Nina Morrison in collaboration with the performers and designers. Choreographer Susan Quinn, composer Jeannie Fry, visual artist Vandana Jain, video designer Zoë Woodworth; Performed by Irene Antoniazzi, Lucia Cousins, Brenda Crawley, Jeannie Fry, Sandrine Hudl, Sharla Meese, Caroline Oster, Katherine O'Sullivan, Ellen Simpson, Jeanne Lauren Smith, Megan Tefft, Christine Verleny, Brooke Volkert, Katherine Wessling. Nina and her ensemble investigate the relationship between safety and magic using elements of sitcom structure, the story of Cupid & Psyche, musical theater, Jane Austen's England, and, briefly, gladiators.
*Followed by (February 1 only):Fly By Night Theater presents Grovel Off, A Contemporary Vaudeville & Escalation in 9 Exegeses, Performed by a Troupe of Exegetic Clowns written and directed by Matt Reeck. With Kevin Dhaniram, Giselle Gastel, Ed Go, Cara Maltz, Laura Riveros, Tony Tavarez, Jack Trinco. Visuals by Jeff Hopkins. Two short works that explore the faces of contemporary isolation. Grovel Off is a half-mad vaudeville. Its actors ought to be elsewhere, doing other things. (Mainly, seeking treatment.) Escalation is a Cubist drama that divides the stage in naturalistic and non-natural spaces to enact a critique of group mentalities. Here, the individual is the hero, lost in the metropolis, wandering through the artifices of living. Theater Thursday, February 2 at 7:30pm Lucas Syed Blood in the Blancmange - Part 1 Tickets: $12 (advance), $15 / $10 stu/sen and TDF (door) Written and directed by Lucas Syed. Performed by Michael Hajek, Anita Keale, Ally Tufenkjian, Elowyn Castle, Matt McGloin, Mandy Hassett. It is a fateful weekend at the country mansion of the eccentric and extraordinarily wealthy Col. Geoffrey Hardman (Michael Hajek). Geoffrey's son Robert (Matt McGloin) arrives with his fiancee Violet Kotze (Mandy Hassett), intent on celebrating their engagement; but the mysterious ambitions of Geoffrey's wild new servant Martine (Ally Tufenkjian), paired with the impending arrival of Violet's rambunctious parents, cause the class- and commitment-transgressing sexual tensions within the household to boil over, culminating in murder and horrifying revelations! (This staged reading presents Part 1 of 2). Theater Friday, February 3 at 9:30pm Cara Scarmack / THE ROADSTERS Ohio, Revisited Tickets: $12 (advance); $15 / $10 stu/sen and TDF (door) Cara Scarmack, text and direction; Priscilla Holbrook, performance and music direction; Ashley Nease, Stephanie Viola and Nathan Richard Wagner, performance; music composition by the ensemble. The second rendition of an original, experimental theatre piece written by Cara Scarmack, developed and performed by the theatre ensemble The Roadsters. Four siblings in 1950s rural Ohio have their lives are shattered by a premature death. The driving force of this tale of living and loss is fierceness from the survivors to "go on" as well as from the departed to "be remembered." The performance incorporates "extra daily" physicality, transcendent original Americana music (with the actors as orchestra), poetic text, and a host of beautiful objects, taking the audience on a truly joyous theatrical expedition. Theater, Dance, Queer Saturday, February 4 at 9:30pm Janet Werther Are You My Mother?? Tickets: $12 (advance); $15 / $10 stu/sen and TDF (door) Created & Performed by Janet Werther. Janet exposes the mythology of finding one's "true" gay family upon coming out, explores multiple facets of the mother-daughter experience, and hypothesizes that the real problem is that nobody truly values femininity. Part song & dance cabaret, part post-modern "downtown" dance, part Gender Performance Theory lecture, and most of all hilarious personal anecdote, Are You My Mother?? is one young woman's realization that she cannot avoid becoming her mother--even if she is fancier! Circus Arts, Variety Monday, FeBRUARY 6 at 8:00pm Bindlestiff Family CirkuS Bindlestiff Open Stage Variety Hour Tickets: $5 suggested donation A first look at NYC's finest emerging variety and circus talents. Get more info on their dedicated web page here.

To sign up, e-mail Keith at with "Open Stage" in the subject line. Include a description of your act and the date(s) you are interested in performing.

This new series continues throughout 2012: March 5, April 2, May 7, June 4, July 2, August 6, September 3, October 1, November 5, December 3. Theater, Dance, Music, Etc. Monday, FeBRUARY 13 at 7:30pm Little Theatre Tickets: $12 (advance), $15 / $10 stu/sen and TDF (door) OBIE-winning cutting-edge series (theater, dance, music, performance art, media, robotics, animals -- serious fun). Curated by Scott Adkins, Rob Erickson, Jeff Jones, Tina Satter & Normandy Sherwood

Scheduled performances include:

THE BLACK WIDOW, written and directed by Siobhan Antonioli: This is a story that lurks behind the floorboards of your mind. This is a story of a darker world that transports Julia Morgan beyond the restraints of her wheelchair.

STARVING FOR, created and performed by Amy Virginia Buchanan, in collaboration with Theresa Buchheister: Thresholds and pandas

O! MOTHER, THE MOON IS AT THE DOOR, executed by Cori Kresge: Making an effort to learn classical Arabic through contemporary dance

MOTHER, GOOSE, AND GRIMM, created by Claire Moodey, directed by Adam Goldman, designed by Abigaill Lloyd: A modern fable

CATACLYSMIA, written & directed by Teddy Nicholas, costumes by Sarah Snider, sound design by Peter Mills Weiss, choreography by Mary Mailhot, with: Cara Francis, Mary Mailhot, Jen Taher & Chris Tyler: A fugure for four voices on a theme of loneliness, alienation and the overwhelming sensation of impending doom. Theater Friday, February 17 at 9:30pm Boom Bat Gesture Cthulhu's House of Z Tickets: $12 (advance), $15 / $10 stu/sen and TDF (door) Created, designed & performed by Boom Bat Gesture: Jon Burklund (co-director), Ilana Stuelpner (co-director), Niko Tsocanos (performer). Cthulhu's House of Z recasts H.P. Lovecraft's sci-fi horror legend as a bumbling simian lunatic who hosts a late-nite electronic dream show. On the program tonight is the story of a husband and wife, whose dreams are infected by Cthulhu's perverted spell. As Cthulhu's somnambulant tantrum-spectacle progresses, his twisted experiments drive the couple insane, homicidal, and obsessed with donuts. Cthulhu's… is experimental performance group Boom Bat Gesture's fourth original piece, and their New York debut. And it's pronounced Cuh-THOO-loo. Lounge, Theater Saturday, February 18 at 7:30pm John Watts Going To America Tickets: FREE Written and Performed by John Watts. Divisions between childhood innocence and adolescent self awareness are intensified by the immigrant experience of shifting between cultures. Crossing the pond between the familiar comfort of Wales and the fantasy of America in 1954 becomes an adventure that still shapes life in later years Theater Saturday, February 18 at 9:30pm Damaris Webb The Box Marked Black Tickets: $12 (advance), $15 / $10 stu/sen and TDF (door) Written and Performed by Damaris Webb, directed by Debra Disbrow. The Box Marked Black is a tender solo performance piece, tracing the experience of growing up mulatto in the pre-Huxtable era. With only Jenny Willis from The Jefferson's as a guide, our multi-disciplinary storyteller creates narrative from the perspective of both sides of her interracial family, embodying multiple characters, childhood memories (including a Roots sock puppet re-enactment) and fantasy. Queer, Theater Tuesday, February 21 at 7:30pm Inbred Hybrid Collective Somewhere, Something Amazing is Waiting to be Known Tickets: $12 (advance), $15 / $10 stu/sen and TDF (door) Inbred Hybrid Collective featuring music by Gerald Busby. Inspired by the relationship between quantum physics and mythology, this theatrical exploration uses a quote from Carl Sagan as both title and jumping off point. The vastness of the universe is expostulated in an effort to correct the illusion that there is illusion. The Gods of The Odyssey and their acolytes make small steps toward the evolution of ideas into a self-sustaining transformation from romance to reason and the super-nuclear force that transformation releases into the universe, joined by later re-examinations of those characters; this piece invades the archetypes of human ancestry in order to re-align it with the impetus for human imagination. Theater Thursday, February 23 at 7:30pm Catherine Mueller & Ben Vigus Mary Poppins: A Show About Mary Poppins Tickets: $12 (advance), $15 / $10 stu/sen and TDF (door) Performed by Catherine Mueller & Ben Vigus; originally conceived by Catherine Mueller; created by Catherine Mueller in collaboration with Alex Correia & Ben Vigus. Prepare to get your Mary Poppins on! Past titles have included Popping with Poppins, Something About Mary Poppins, A Nonsensical Exercise into the Whatnots of Mary Poppins as Seen Through the Eyes of Kim Smith, and This is How Good Mary Poppins Could Be if I Were Allowed to Star In It. Kim Smith seeks to inspire, delight and educate her audience with this homage to Disney's Mary Poppins. Part reenactment, part instructional seminar, part tea-service, Kim reveals more than you ever thought you needed to know about Mary. Get the latest on the production on their tumblr site! Queer, Music Friday, February 24 at 9:30pm Corky Has a Band with Nicoll+Oreck The Playground Tickets: $12 (advance); $15 / $10 stu/sen and TDF (door) Corky Has a Band Presents: The Playground with special guests Nicoll+Oreck. Named after Chris Burke's character on Life Goes On, Corky Has A Band is a hyper-vaudevillian performance duo. Its members, Prof. Tickles and Sgt. Whiskers (pianists David Broome and Amir Khosrowpour) find various ways of brutalizing a piano, while exploring the extremities of the absurd. Their eclectic and unpredictable shows are presented through the guise of a variety show, consisting of games, skits and songs, all under a sparkling blanket of highly virtuosic improvisation. Sometimes humorous, sometimes crass, and sometimes heart-warmingly sentimental -- Corky Has A Band's Playground is a surrealist playground run amok.

On a bill with

Nicoll+Oreck's sold-out run at University Settlement in Spring 2011 netted them a new collaborator: the Khosrowpour half of Corky Has A Band. Joining the full Corky team, the pair—Jessica Nicoll and Barry Oreck—continue to push their peculiar brand of performance activism into new territory. Described by Boulder Fringe online reviewers as makers of work that is "accessible . . . endearing, beautiful and funny . . . refreshingly bizarre, clear, and hilarious," Nicoll+Oreck will pull out some old stuff and improvise with some new to discover what they think they're up to in the here and now. Theater, Art, Revival Service Sunday, February 26 at 11:30am Chris Wells and Friends The Secret City Tickets: $10 suggested donation Part revival, part salon, part show, these monthly services feature performance, visual art, music, food & literature, designed to inspire, excite & invigorate the creative community of NYC. More info on their website. Theater, Music Monday, February 27 at 7:30pm Sir Ari Gold The Reel Ari Gold Tickets: $12 (advance); $15 / $10 stu/sen and TDF (door) Written and Performed by Sir Ari Gold; directed by Colman Domingo. The Reel Ari Gold is an electro-pop musical memoir that opens in The Bronx, circa 1980's, travelling below-the borschbelt into the Catskills and ultimately landing in the vibrant and historic Lower East Side. Chronicling a career spanning three decades, beginning with an auspicious debut on the legendary Joe Franklin Show, this pop singing superhero comes out and comes of age with an eclectic but stellar group of mentors like Diana Ross, Uncle Moishe & the Mitzva Men and Jem & the Holograms, culminating in a battle for visibility, justice and 'The Real.' The Reel Ari Gold is a true-life, behind-the-musical adventure of identity, sex, show-business, religion, family and love. Lounge, Comedy Wednesday, February 29 at 9:30pm Greg Walloch and Mark Allen Pitch! Tickets: $7 cash only at the door Hosted by Greg Walloch and Mark Allen with special guests! A live storytelling event with a twist. Four fearless storytellers perform in front of an audience while simultaneously pitching their story to a publishing industry heavyweight! The guest editors will share their feedback and maybe even a possible yes or no on the spot! Willing audience members are also invited to submit a rapid fire 15 second pitch. Music Saturday, March 3 at 10:00pm Gordon Beeferman and Charlotte Jackson THE ENCHANTED ORGAN: A Porn Opera Tickets: $12 (advance); $15 / $10 stu/sen (door) Written and performed by Gordon Beeferman and Charlotte Jackson; directed by Beth Greenberg. The Enchanted Organ is a burlesque opera that celebrates sexuality and satirizes the porn industry, while parodying four hundred years of the operatic tradition. Composer/librettist team Beeferman and Jackson bring their trademark wit and polymorphous perversity to this journey through "the Magical Kingdom of Porn," a place where past and present, straight and queer, and living and dead converge. Drawing on influences as diverse as classic 70s porn soundtracks, baroque oratorio, Ancient Greek hymns and The Nutcracker ballet, this work-in-progress is as close as you'll get (or ever want to get!) to "aural sex." Circus Arts, Variety Monday, March 5 at 8:00pm Bindlestiff Family CirkuS Bindlestiff Open Stage Variety Hour Tickets: $5 suggested donation A first look at NYC's finest emerging variety and circus talents. Get more info on their dedicated web page here.

To sign up, e-mail Keith at with "Open Stage" in the subject line. Include a description of your act and the date(s) you are interested in performing.

This new series continues throughout 2012: April 2, May 7, June 4, July 2, August 6, September 3, October 1, November 5, December 3. Theater, Masks, Music Tuesday, March 6 at 7:30pm HOMUNCULUS MASK THEATER COMPANY Homunculus Reloaded Tickets: $12 (advance); $15 / $10 stu/sen (door) Joe Osheroff, Artistic Director/Mask Maker; Michael Raimondi, Producing Director. Cast (subject to change): Jenn Luong, David DeSantis, Evan Zes, Regina Gibson, Michael Raimondi, Roland Lane, Brett Teresa. Homunculus Reloaded uses an arsenal of original, hand-crafted masks and a cast of eight to create over forty hilarious and poignant characters intertwined in a visual pastiche of music, optical illusion, and dance. Circus, Kids Sunday, March 11 at 3pm Playful Productions and Bindlestiff Family Cirkus Bindlestiff Cavalcade of Youth Tickets: $10 kids under 16; $15 adults Directed by Viveca Gardiner. Where the stars of tomorrow steal the stage today: a showcase for young variety and circus performers. Now in its seventh year, Bindlestiff Cavalcade of Youth features an amazing array of young talent ranging from debuting amateurs to world-class champion performers—all under the age of 21. These are the future stars of Cirque du Soleil, Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus, Coney Island Sideshow, and television. Where else can you see juvenile unicyclists, tap dancers, magicians, clowns, and contortionists sharing the stage with Broadway-bound singers and classically trained musicians? All the performers are under 21, but audience members of all ages love this show. Bindlestiff Cavalcade of Youth is a Playful Productions and Bindlestiff Family Cirkus co-production. Theater, Dance, Music, Etc. Monday, MARCH 12 at 7:30pm Little Theatre Tickets: $12 (advance), $15 / $10 stu/sen and TDF (door) OBIE-winning cutting-edge series (theater, dance, music, performance art, media, robotics, animals -- serious fun). Curated by Scott Adkins, Rob Erickson, Jeff Jones, Tina Satter & Normandy Sherwood Theater Wednesday, March 14 at 7:30pm Tanya Marquardt Nocturne Tickets: $12 (advance), $15 / $10 stu/sen and TDF (door) Written by Tanya Marquardt, performed by Peter Blomquist and Jessica Jelliffe, directed by Mallory Cattlett. Nocturne (the incomplete and inaccurate account of the love affair between George Sand and Frederic Chopin) is a classic retelling of an old romance filled with sex, games and piano concertos. Fred, an ailing musician, and George, a bi-sexual writer, are neighbors in a New York apartment. George steals into Fred's window one night to hear his music and leaves with his heart. When Fred is unable to satisfy George's sexual needs, she creates a role-playing game in the hopes of seducing him. But when the game turns sour, Fred and George must risk seeing one another for who they really are, even if there are deadly consequences. Theater Wednesday, March 14 at 9:30pm Yuval Boim Sexurity Tickets: $12 (advance), $15 / $10 stu/sen and TDF (door) Created and performed by Yuval Boim, directed by Darren Katz. Blocked screenwriter Daniel can't stand the sight of himself. On top of that his boyfriend Thomas, a successful but financially irresponsible musician (who may be the love of his life) might have to return to Germany because of visa problems. Daniel takes a job with his family's Israeli security firm to help out with Thomas' rent. When the company is threatened by a possibly anti-Semitic corporate takeover, Daniel must confront his roots and reckon with his own narrative about what it means to be secure. Theater, Clown, Vaudeville Monday, March 19 at 7:30pm Christopher Lueck and Friends The Downtown Clown Revue Tickets: $12 (advance), $15 / $10 stu/sen and TDF (door) Curated and hosted by Christopher Lueck. Experience the new face of clowning at this all clown variety show! Each month is a new lineup of circus, stage, and street performers of all levels presenting new work ranging from sexy burlesque, silly slapstick, and existential stunts. Every show is a cacophonous cavalcade of clowns where the freedom of play, soaring imaginations, and uproarious laughter can be expected. Not for children. Lounge, Theater Friday, March 23 at 10:30pm David Lawson VCR Love Tickets: FREE Celebrity sex tapes, "braille porn" for the blind, progressive/feminist porn . . . in 2012 pornography is both bigger and more diverse than it has ever been. From watching scrambled Skinamax as a teenager to watching the never-ending parade of men jerking off on Chatroulette, VCR Love is a solo show that uses stories both personal and universal to explore, lampoon, question and celebrate how the last 25 years in porn have resulted in a world where no matter how strange your fetish or kink is . . . there's porn about it. Theater Saturday, March 24 at 10:30pm Jeremy Pickard MARS (a play about mining) Tickets: $12 (advance), $15 / $10 stu/sen and TDF (door) Conceived and directed by Jeremy Pickard, assisted by Stephanie Pistello, created/performed by Brian Belcinski, Tom Coiner, Tyler Caffall, Alexandra Kuechler Caffall, Steve Carlton, William Cook, Dan Lawrence, Adam Miller, Eugene Oh, Peter Waluk, Carlton Ward. Featuring an all-male cast, a unique physical score of dance/fight choreography and a soundtrack of live percussion, MARS examines the complex issue of mining via a fictional allegory set on the volatile red planet. Based on the history of Appalachian coal mining, Ray Bradbury and mythologies of war, MARS marks the sixth in Superhero Clubhouse's distinctive series of ecology-inspired Planet Plays. Theater, Art, Revival Service Sunday, March 25 at 11:30am Chris Wells and Friends The Secret City Tickets: $10 suggested donation Part revival, part salon, part show, these monthly services feature performance, visual art, music, food & literature, designed to inspire, excite & invigorate the creative community of NYC. More info on their website. Theater, Music, Drag Friday, March 30 at 9:30pm MargOH! Channing MargOH! Channing is Tipsy Tickets: $12 (advance), $15 / $10 stu/sen and TDF (door) Written by MargOH! Channing (BT Shea), musical direction Jarad Astin, direction and special material by Thom Fogarty. Performed by MargOH! Channing, MAN-ee Champagne (Jeff Catlow-Shea) and Diamond Daquiri (Crystal Rona Peterson). MargOH! Channing is Tipsy deconstructs drag through storytelling, song, and drunkglama dysfunction. MargOH! reminisces about her family, gay lovers and the ups and downs of her career while tackling such subjects as rape, incest, race, political correctness, sexual orientation, the power of Liza and most of all survival. Tipsy features MargOH!'s long time Gayiance' MAN-ee Champagne, Diamond as back up divas, The MargOH!-tinis, and the Jarad Astin Trio. Theater Saturday, March 31 at 9:30pm Briana James Glitta Tickets: $12 (advance), $15 / $10 stu/sen and TDF (door) Written by Briana James; directed by Briana James and Kelsey Larsen. It is a sad day in the South when a man can't eat what he wants. It is an even sadder day in the South when a man can't have the sex he wants. When his wife puts him on a strict diet and his porn addiction escalates, Morrison Bogartʼs life spirals out of his control. He soon discovers his friends--Paul Clarence and Timothy Luther--are losing it just as fast as he is. They meet a giver of all sexual fantasies, and must answer to the call of the fetish! Ass! Donuts! And a whole lot of Glitta: get addicted to the shine!
Photo credits (top to bottom): Scott Lewis (Gary Winter), Gretchen Grace (Scott Adkins), Wesley Mann (Nicholas Gorham), Jane Yi (Matt Reeck), Angela Jimenez (Janet Werther), Jim Moore (Bindlestiff Family Cirkus), Jerzy Kowalski (Inbred Hybrid Collective), Amir Khosrowpour (Corky Has a Band), Elise Long (Nicoll+Oreck), Gian Andreadi Stefano (Ari Gold), Jenn Luong (Homunculus Mask Theater Company), Christian Coulson (Yuval Boim), Jim Moore (Downtown Clown Revue), Rex Lott (MargOH! Channing), Alex Schaefer (Glitta Graphic), Alex Tkill (Glitta photo).