OM SHANTI, Agni Productions at Long Center, August 23 - 25, 2013

 presents

Om Shanti

once upon a time in Bollywood

at the Long Center, Austin, Texas

August 23 - 25, 2013

Every fairytale you fell in love with always began with “Once upon a time”, and so does this one. Om Shanti is a tale that tells the story of Om, a court dancer madly in love with the princess, Shanti; and a land called Bollywood, whose soul was song and dance until “the incident” changed everything. This summer, Agni Entertainment brings to you a saga on stage: of celebration, friendship, hope, love, life, after-life, revenge, and more, all rolled into one big fat musical – Bollywood style!

Think Broadway
Think Bollywood
Now mix it up!

So come to the Long Center and watch Om Shanti as young Rahul and Anjali take you on a journey so full of excitement and energy but managing to touch your soul. This is a roller coaster ride you dont want to miss as all the wonders of Bollywood – lights, costumes, dance, music and melodrama come together to unfold a tale you wont forget.

When you want something with all your heart, the entire universe conspires in helping you achieve it…

Will there be a happily ever after for Om and Shanti? Come find out!

• Official Website for Agni Entertainment

For more information about attending this performance, click here.

(Click to go to the AustinLiveTheatre front page)

HEAVEN - EARTH - ONE, Blue Lapis Light at the Long Center Terrace, May 19 - 26, 2013

May 19 - 26 nightly at 9 p.m. at the Long Center Terrace (701 Riverside at S. First)

Heaven-Earth-One is a site-specific aerial dance performance that carries the audience on a visual journey of transcendence. This piece features dancers on the terrace ring, columns, aerial silks, zip lines and plaza of City Terrace. A zip line stretches from the roof of the theatre down to the terrace ring, allowing dancers to descend over the heads of the audience. The beautiful Austin nighttime skyline serves as the backdrop for this mesmerizing show. Using aerial techniques informed by classical, interpretive and modern dance, Blue Lapis Light challenges physical limitations and inspires our audiences with a sense of wonder. For more information and to view videos of past events, visit www.bluelapislight.org

Tickets available on-line and at the Long Center box office

(Click to go to the AustinLiveTheatre front page)

AGNI Productions Seeks Dancers for summer 2013 Bollywood Musical at Long Center, Austin

Bollywood Musical at the Long Center $$

Agni productions is looking for male, female dancers and actors older than 15 yrs of age to be a part of their next Bollywood Musical production named 'Om Shanti Om' . NO prior Bollywood dance experience required . Auditions in all dance forms accepted. 
 
Agni productions presents to you its next production named 'OM Shanthi OM' . The production will be a musical in English based on OM shanti OM the film. It will not be an exact recreation but a storyline that involves elements from the original movie. It will be a touring production with the first round of shows happening in Austin and Houston summer 2013 with current dates fixed in Austin at the Long Center in August.

The cast and crew will comprise of technicians , dancers , actors and in all we expect the the cast and crew to comprise of about 70-80 people.

Here are a few videos that will give you an idea of how the project will look
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56mdRrcTtSY http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZ9mxl-4akc&feature=fvwrel http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GcWjdVq21Ac

To give you an idea of Agni Productions and our previous project here is a website www.thelankaproject.com

Requirements:
* Must be at least 15 years of age
* Must be available to rehearse starting March
* Must be available for a 2 weekends of live performances in August
Send us resumes , headshots and demo reels to : agniproductions@gmail.com -- contact 512 299 7766 for further details

Pollyanna Theatre and Long Center Announce Alliance

Received today:

Pollyanna Theatre Company announces new Strategic Alliance with

the Long Center for the Performing Arts

 The ‘Good Neighbor Arts Education Project’ will reach Austin’s most at-risk kids

Central Texas’ most well-known children’s theatre company, Pollyanna Theatre, in strategic alliance with the Long Center for the Performing Arts, is excited to launch THE GOOD NEIGHBOR ARTS EDUCATION PROJECT; designed to enhance the general education of some of Central Austin’s most at-risk young people.

The new alliance, through shared services and coordinated outreach efforts, will establish sustained educational relationships with up to seven elementary schools within its first two years, all located within three miles of the Long Center with an at-risk population averaging over 70%. In the first year, immediate service areas include Baty, Dawson, and Becker Elementary Schools.

The program includes pre and post production activities for students and teachers as well as tickets to three productions slated for the 2012-2013 school year. Arts education outreach efforts will also be coordinated with Extend-A-Care for Kids. Pollyanna Theatre Company will provide professionally-trained drama teachers to develop and teach classes on all three campuses before each Pollyanna production.

Six-week classes thematically linked to upcoming Pollyanna productions will offer children a variety of opportunities for creative expression and mentoring. Then, as a group, students will travel to the Long Center’s Rollins Studio Theatre to experience professional theatre presentations written and designed with their developmental and educational needs in mind. Post-show follow-up visits to each school will further expand the learning begun in the theatre.

Currently, over 70,000 students travel each year to the Long Center for arts performances. However, many of these students have no sustained exposure to professional arts presentations or classes. “The Long Center and Pollyanna Theatre Company wish to provide sustained, life-changing arts experiences for young people through ongoing, repeated visits to the Long Center where children will consistently explore and make discoveries through theatre,” says Judy Matetzschk-Campbell, Ph.D, founder and Artistic Director of Pollyanna Theatre Company.

Although many local children pass the Center almost daily with their families, many have yet to realize that the Center and the arts, is there for them, to enrich their lives.

THE GOOD NEIGHBOR ARTS EDUCATION PROJECT is an effort to break down this invisible wall. Jamie Grant, Executive Director and CEO of the Long Center states, “We strive to ensure our youngest neighbors can fully experience the arts as audience members through regular visits to the theatre and moreover, can become artistic creators in their own right.”

The collaboration is a natural fit. Since the opening of the Long Center four years ago, Pollyanna has made the Long Center’s Rollins Studio Theatre its performance home. The two organizations’ shared desire to better serve young people through the arts became apparent, leading to a partnership to leverage resources to educate through the arts.

ABOUT POLLYANNA THEATRE COMPANY: The founders of Pollyanna Theatre Company believe that theatre is a powerful teaching tool that speaks to people of all ages in a unique and powerful way through a variety of visual, aural, and emotional languages. Therefore, theatre should be a part of all general education from Pre-Kindergarten through adulthood. Toward that end, The Pollyanna Theatre Company strives to work alongside educators to inspire, motivate, and teach audiences of all ages. Although the company’s primary focus is upon young audience members, the ensemble performs top quality theatrical productions that speak to and illuminate the human spirit and condition for all ages. www.PollyannaTheatreCompany.org

THE JOE R. AND TERESA LOZANO LONG CETER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS (Long Center) is a world-class, sustainably built cultural centerpiece located along Lady Bird Lake with spectacular views of Austin’s downtown skyline. The Long Center is Austin’s iconic cultural hub and community gathering place, showcasing, inspiring and nurturing the best in professional creative expression. www.TheLongCenter.org.

2012-2013 tickets for Austin Shakespeare Now on Sale via Long Center

announces that season tickets its two-play season at the Rollins Theatre are now on sale through the Long Center box office.

Prices for the season package are approximately $32 per ticket plus a $4 service charge.

Individual tickets are approximately $28 per ticket plus a $4.75 service charge for general admission and $17 + $2.75 service charge for students.

Click HERE to go to the Long Center ticketing service page for Austin Shakespeare.

Upcoming: Young Frankenstein touring company, Long Center, March 10 and 11

The Long Center presents the new New Mel Brooks musical

Young Frankenstein

March 10-11, 2012
Saturday 8pm, Sunday 2pm and 7pm
The Long Center | 701 West Riverside Drive at South First Street
TICKETS: Start at $29. Visit www.TheLongCenter.org or call (512) 474-LONG (5664). Tickets also available at the Long Center 3M Box Office. Groups of 10+ call 457-5161.

The New Mel Brooks Musical -Young Frankenstein, a new musical comedy from the creative team of the 12-time Tony Award winning smash, The Producers, is coming to Austin! Young Frankenstein opened on Broadway November 8, 2007 at the Hilton Theatre and began the national tour September, 2009.

Young Frankenstein features a book by three-time Tony Award winner Mel Brooks and three-time Tony Award winner Thomas Meehan with music and lyrics by Brooks. Young Frankenstein is directed and choreographed by five-time Tony Award winner Susan Stroman. Musical supervision is by Glen Kelly.

Young Frankenstein was named Best Broadway Musical 2008 by the Outer Critics Circle Award and won 5 Broadway.com Audience Awards, including Favorite New Broadway Musical.

Click to read more at AustinLiveTheatre.com . . . .

Girls' Night, Touring Show at the Long Center, October 7 & 8

by Hannah Bisewski

A booming, exuberant voice blasts a too-casual introduction, announcing what will be a romping performance and warning that more than a few theatre conventions will be broken over the course of the evening. Flashing lights in gaudy colors frame an elevated platform with a lone microphone, suggesting we’re in for a selection of glitzy show tunes. Given that all this is set in the Long Center’s cavernous Michael and Susan Dell Hall, one wonders how Girls’ Night will deliver the intimacy and interaction that the opening announcement promises.

Enter Sharon, a ghost, the mother of Candy Rose, whose engagement is the reason (or excuse) for the reunion at a karaoke bar of Sharon’s childhood posse. It’s girls’ night out – and then some.

The departed Sharon introduces in turn each of her four friends: high-strung Anita, party animal Carol, trophy wife Liza and tiresome Kate. The four meet up around a table at the karaoke bar. They exchange updates on their lives and it doesn’t take long for the cattiness to emerge. We hear a slew of deep, dark, and often shameless secrets, past and present, from the most intimate parts of their lives, their marriages and their children, past and present. All this, of course, is spliced together with disco hits from across the last few decades, including dynamic renditions of It’s Raining Men, I Will Survive, and Lady Marmalade.

Read more and see videos at AustinLiveTheatre.com . . . .

Arts Reporting by Jeanne Claire van Ryzin: Shakespeare at the Long Center, Austin Playhouse at Mueller

Two items today from Jeanne Claire van Ryzin at the Statesman's Austin360 "Seeing Things" blog:

Long Center adds Globe Theatre production to HD film screenings

By Jeanne Claire van Ryzin | Friday, September 10, 2010, 10:58 AM

Expanding its agreement with HD film distributors, the Long Center for the Performing Arts has announced that it will now be screening recent Shakespeare productions from London’s Globe Theatre.

The first is the Globe’s 2009 production of ‘Love’s Labour’s Lost’ directed Dominic Dromgoole. It screens at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 1. Tickets are $15, $10 for students.

Screening dates for more Globe Theatre productions will be announced in the near future.

Recently, the Long Center began screening Emerging Pictures Opera in Cinema series of recent production from international opera houses. The next in that series is London’s Royal Opera House production of ‘Cosi Fan Tutte’ which screens at 7 p.m. Sept. 14.

See thelongcenter.org for more information.

Austin Playhouse considers move to Mueller

By Jeanne Claire van Ryzin | Friday, September 10, 2010, 02:14 PM

After nearly a decade in residence at South Austin’s Penn Field development, Austin Playhouse is thinking about it’s next move. Where to? The Mueller redevelopment in East Austin.

Nothing is inked or written in stone yet, but Austin Playhouse, led by Don Toner, reports that it is in discussions to secure a location adjacent to the planned Austin Childrens’ Museum.

Austin Playhouse imagines its new facility to include two performance facilities — a 200-seat main stage and a 99-seat flexible second stage — along with classrooms and support facilities. Austin Playhouse estimates its project will cost between $3 to $5 million.

Greg Weaver, the Catellus executive in Austin in charge of the Mueller redevelopment told the American-Statesman today that “we’re in very preliminary discussions,” with Austin Playhouse about going into Mueller’s future town center, potentially adjacent to the planned new Austin Children’s Museum.

Weaver added that while the theater would be “a great addition” to the future town center, there is no deal at the moment. The Mueller town center is planned to be a mix of retail, restaurant and entertainment venues. However, no date has been set to start the town center phase of the Mueller project.

Arts Reporting: Epoch Times Says Chinese Government Used Covert Pressure on Long Center for Presenting Shen Yun , August 5

Found on-line, a news account citing the proclamation by Austin Mayor "Lee Jeffingwell" welcoming Shen Yun Performing Arts, alleging that the Chinese government has sponsored a clumsy e-mail campaign against the the U.S.-based classical Chinese dance company:

Forged Emails Used Against Performing Arts Company Emails claiming to support Shen Yun seek to derail it; Chinese regime suspected

By Wen Yuqian
Epoch Times Staff, Aug 5, 2010

AUSTIN, Tex.—The theatre manager of a performing arts venue here recently received an email that made him pause and scratch his head.

Purporting to be from the organizers of a classical Chinese dance company soon to perform at his venue, the Long Center for the Performing Arts, the email made a series of claims bizarre enough to lead the theatre to contact the organizers directly.

The organizers didn’t send the email, but argue that it reflects the latest in the Chinese Communist Party’s attempts to spread propaganda against its enemies overseas.

Shen Yun Performing Arts, the classical Chinese dance company that will put on two shows in Austin on Aug. 7 , has been targeted by the CCP since its inception. The company draws on ancient Chinese traditions that have been all but wiped out in China, and is supported internationally by Falun Gong, a group also relentlessly attacked and persecuted in China.

Initially, Chinese embassies tried the blunt approach of direct dissuasion; but theatre owners in the US did not respond favorably, and some even went public with their indignation. Beginning this year, the Chinese communists appear to have stepped up the sophistication of their approach by sending emails purporting to be from Falun Gong practitioners themselves, giving outlandish pronouncements that would make anyone’s eyebrows raise.

Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline consisting of moral principles and slow-motion physical exercises, has been persecuted in China since 1999.

Mr. Li, who is in charge of hosting Shen Yun Performing Arts in Austin, says that the email he was shown by the theatre looked a lot like other harassing emails received by other theatres hosting Shen Yun shows. Typically, the email initially appears to be written from a Falun Gong standpoint, but then includes out-of-context quotes from Falun Gong’s spiritual teacher, moral exhortations meant to confuse, and a good dose of nonsense.

In the recent email sent to the Long Center, the sender, who identified himself as Haichao Jian, referred at length to the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Mr. Jian then asked the theater to appeal to the audience of Shen Yun to follow the teaching of Falun Gong, then somehow linked it back to an improvement in the oil spill.

Read full story at The Epoch Times . . . .

Theatre for Children: Pre-sale for Nickleodeon's Storytime Live, Long Center, August 18 - 19

Received directly, info about the Long Center's pre-sale of tickets for the visiting show Nickleodeon's Storytime, to be staged in Dell Hall on August 18-19, at ticket prices ranging from $23 to $42 per seat:

Nickelodeon presents

STORYTIME LIVE!

Long Center, main hall (Dell Hall)

Wednesday, August 18, 7 p.m. and Thursday, August 19, 10:30 a.m. and 7 p.m.

Be the FIRST to buy tickets to Nickelodeon's brand new live show, Storytime Live before tickets go on sale this Friday, April 16! Use the code "DORA" to purchase great seats TODAY!

Storytime Live, a musical adventure features Dora the Explorer, The Backyardigans, Ni Hao, Kai-Lan and The Wonder Pets. Join hosts, Moose & Zee and play along through four storytime adventures. Don't miss out! Buy your tickets NOW for Storytime Live! FOUR ADVENTURES. ONE AMAZING SHOW!

Buy Tickets >>

Code DORA valid through April 15 at 10 p.m.

Arts Reporting: Long Center Economic Impact Study, September 2009

The Long Center has just issued a press release and made available in .pdf form the summary results of a study it commissioned to describe the economic impact of the Center.

From the PR spin:

A study released by the city on Wednesday morning shows that the year-old Long Center for the Performing Arts and its three resident companies generate a collective $43 million in annual economic activity for Austin.

The study conducted by New Economic Strategies and Avalanche Consulting shows that the center and its performing arts groups--the Austin Lyric Opera, Ballet Austin and the Austin Symphony--account for roughly 950 full- and part-time jobs. Additionally, events at the Long Center draw some 200,000 attendees annually.

According to the study, about $20 million of the total economic impact figure happens on site at the center, with an additional $5 million occurring off-site through attendee spending on such things as meals and hotel rooms. The researchers believe an additional $18 million in activity comes from the indirect ripple effects of the primary spending.

Open since March 2008, the Long Center has drawn numerous performers to its stage in addition to the local performance companies.

But the center's economic impact didn't begin with its opening. According to the study, the facility's construction generated $105 million for the local economy during the four-year building period, supporting 950 jobs and $40 million in labor revenue.

Passages from the .pdf document that may be of interest to Austin artists and theatre companies:

In addition to their paid employees, the Long Center and its Founding Resident Companies allow hundreds of artists and performers to earn income for their craft.

Arguably, a small number of these artists would choose to live in Austin without the opportunities to perform, and these artists support hundreds of jobs in a variety of creative industries in Austin (their “day jobs”).

In addition, thousands of volunteers and contributors support the Long Center and its partners with their time and donations.

THE LONG CENTER SUBSIDIZES EMERGING ARTISTS IN AUSTIN THROUGH CATALYST 8’S BOOST RENTAL SUBSIDY PROGRAM.

Donor group Catalyst 8 created the Boost Rental Subsidy Program in late 2007.

Since its inception, $36,000 in Boost subsidies have been granted to more than 20 Austin area arts groups. 75 days of performances have been subsidized.

Catalyst 8’s goal is to partially or fully subsidize 100 days of performances in 2010.

ALT note: It appears that the assumptions and data supporting these conclusions have not been made public.

Interviews: Paul Beutel, Managing Director of the Long Center

Paul Beutel, managing director of the Long Center since mid-2008, recently told Rob Faubion of austinonstage.com,

"Like any new organization, The Long Center has faced the challenges of achieving operating efficiencies. The challenge has been compounded, of course, by the current economic climate. As we have learned more about what it takes to operate the Center on a daily basis, we have confronted the economic challenges and managed to trim our operating budget by an amazing 20%. "The budget trimming did involve the elimination of eight staff positions and job re-ordering. Client and audience services, however, have not been compromised."

Click for full text of Faubion's exclusive interview

Austin Business Journal profile of Beutel by A.J. Mistretta with Qs and As, February 13, 2009

Austin Chronicle article by Robert Faires about Beutel's appointment, September 5, 2008

Theatre Reporting: Robert Faires on First Six Months of the Long Center

Faires' article in the Austin Chronicle of October 3 begins,

Learning Curve

Lessons from the Long Center's first six months

BY ROBERT FAIRES

Theatre people have a saying: There's the show you rehearse, then there's the show you perform. Meaning, the folks putting on a play can learn a lot about it while they're putting it together, but they never really know what kind of show they have until the audience shows up. That's when the artists learn which jokes are really funny, which moments are truly moving, which characters are credible, which relationships genuine. It's the response of the public that teaches you what you've made.

Click for full article in the Austin Chronicle.

Photo by Sandy Carson

Petra’s Sueño, Teatro Vivo

June 4-8, 2008

First of all, though Rupert Reyes and his Teatro Vivo assure you that this is a “bilingual comedy,” their generous-hearted Petra’s Sueño is in fact written more than 90% in English. The meaning of virtually every syllable of the Spanish dialogue is made clear by restatement in English, in context or in mime. You could speak not a word of Spanish and yet still capture everything; and if you do understand Spanish, this confection is more delicious still.

Matter-of-fact, optimistic, and industrious without complaint, the apparently childless middle-aged Petra (Irene González, center) operates a tortilla factory and shop in a small town somewhere in south Texas. The framed show posters displayed in the modest lobby of the Long Center’s Rollins Theatre show that over the past 8 years Petra has featured in the often-produced elements of a Teatro Vivo trilogy – Petra’s Pecado (Petra’s Sin), Petra’s Cuento (Petra’s Tale), and this dream play, Petra’s Sueño. Reyes, who plays Petra’s equally amiable and hard-working husband Rafa (Rafael, in light blue shirt) writes in the program, “. . . it’s time now to say farewell to the Petra plays. Well, maybe not farewell forever, but we do not have plans to produce these plays again in the near future. Now, Teatro Vivo is poised to take our wonderful audiences to another level.”

Assuming that other Teatro Vivo productions have followed the approach of artistic director/playwright Reyes, this declaration suggests that the group may have decided on a paradigm shift – and the announced 2008-2009 season (detailed below) reinforces such an interpretation.

Though perhaps half of the audience that filled the 400-seat Rollins theatre on Sunday afternoon was of Latino origin, this Petra play is a valentine to Anglos and to second-generation Mexican Americans, inviting them to appreciate and enjoy the friendship, family ties, honesty and humor of the thoroughly cross-cultural inhabitants of a small town. These characters are no complainers and no ideologues. They discuss briefly the inadequate compensation initially offered by a manufacturing firm planning to relocate to the town; and Rafa is detained by the border authorities (“la Migra”) because he forgets to take his citizenship papers when he goes to buy a tortilla machine in Mexico. But the townspeople are fully capable of dealing with these problems. They agree on a counterproposal to the factory and Rafa is quickly set free by his distant cousin, who happens to be running the border crossing office. The problems and follies of Petra’s Sueño arise from misunderstandings, an occasional excess of pride, and from the literally diabolical machinations of the black-caped Devil (Michael Mendoza, right) who engages Petra’s guardian angel (Natalia Marlena Goodnow, left) in a contest for that good woman’s soul. (This is a dream, remember.)

The plot is light and builds a narrative with comic, illogical developments, in which the bad guys are caricatures of wickedness, as in the best vaudeville (in good groundling fashion, I was tempted at times to boo or hiss but I contained myself). Mendoza made a flamboyant Devil, seated in his throne of darkness above the sets, and he certainly enjoyed himself – though sometimes in his imprecations he deformed his deep and mellifluous voice with a fricative rasp not really needed for the characterization. Playing Mendoza’s obsequious devilish assistant Grano, Rudy Sandoval was a delight, a slender sinewy strutting clown with attitude. And Petra’s nemesis, the nefarious rival tortilla shop operator Tina Tamayo (Yvonne Flores), was a wonderful cartoon villain full of mendacity, so ambitious to defeat Rafa (Reyes) in the mayor’s race that she contracted devil’s assistant Grano as her political consultant without bothering to check the price: her eternal soul. Even non-Spanish-speakers got it when the wicked Tina offered arch campaign remarks in an impossibly Gringo accent.

Also appearing as a cartoonish character is Petra’s guardian angel (Natalie Marlena Goodnow, robed in white and sporting wings touched with tinsel). Wounded in her contest with the Devil, the Angel is obliged to stay with Petra for four weeks, until her wings can grow back. She is innocent and earnest as Petra shields her and creates a legend for her, but in her temporary mortal condition she progressively adopts human vices and passions. Goodnow incarnates these changes and becomes the bad daughter we all want never to have, at least until the resolution in the second act. This slim, focused young actress has great presence throughout, moving from cartoon to fully realized character.

But the actors giving us Petra, her husband and her employees – the merely human characters -- are the prizes of the piece. Even though the plot is by turns silly, wistful and illogical, with their warmth, vulnerability and sympathy, the actors make both their daily lives and their fantastical transports very real. As Petra throughout the 8 years of the trilogy, González is certainly well known and liked by Teatro Vivo’s audiences. Anyone there would have been happy to shop at Petra’s Tortillas and to vote for Rafa for mayor. A special applause goes to JoJanie Segura as the tortilla shop’s principal employee Tacha. She first appears in curlers and a billowing nightgown to answer a late-night telephone call from Petra. Alternately tough and tender, ebullient Tacha is the center of the play. Her voyage beyond death in Petra’s dream is dramatic and touching, as is her quiet deathbed reconciliation with fellow employee Chano (Tomás Contreras).

Mary Alice Carnes’ direction keeps the action lively, and she makes the most of the comic shifts of character and scene in Reyes’ script. This cast must have been a pleasure to work with. The set was functional and convincing; putting the Devil up above the action might not be theologically correct, but it certainly helped fill up the barren space of the Rollins Theatre, a cavern big enough to serve as a garage for three tractor trailers. Music was lively and appropriate, although I could have used a bit more volume on the “radio station” interludes. One quibble on the lighting, which was otherwise appropriate – the decision to use a “window frame” projection on stage right was unfortunate, since it cast unnecessary and distracting shadows on faces.

[Click here for Pati Hadad's July 2005 review in the Austin chronicle of
the earlier Petra's Pecado.]

[Click here for a profile of Michael and Celeste Mendoza, by Jeanne Claire van Ryzin]

[Click here for Elizabeth Cobbe's preview of the August 14-24 Voces de Vivo one-act plays, published by the Austin Statesman on August 15]

Teatro Vivo's 2008-2009 season

"August 14-24
Three original one-act plays created by company members Natalie Goodnow, Celeste Mendoza, Michael Mendoza and Rupert Reyes

"November 5-16
Fantasmaville by Raul Garza
"This dramatic comedy explores lives out of balance in the wake of community gentrification. Winner of the 2007 National Latino Playwrights Award, Fantasmaville sparkles with entertaining dialogue and engaging characters (including a human-sized Raccoon spirit guide).

"March 5-16, 2009
Keeping Track by Erica saenz
Inspired by the current usage of microchip technology for personal identification, Keeping Track explores the boundaries of personal freedom. In this bilingual comedy, family and friends become tangled up in each other's lives with shocking andhilarious results.

"July 16-27, 2009
Tripas by Lisa Cortez Walden
The word 'tripas' (Spanish for 'intestines') most often refers to the Mexican delicacy once banned by the FDA. In this play, Cortez Walden redefines it as the part of our lives that we have tried to suppress, but must ultimately face. This fast-moving story of old and new relationships will engage, enlighten and entertain."