Time is Ticking!

As I write this, there are only 32 hours left to donate to Plastic Flamingo's World Premiere Production of Fit: A New Play.

Now is your chance to help keep PFTC creating theatre for years to come!
It's also just a good time to click on this link and see our awesome video about Plastic Flamingo. Thank you again Darren Mallett.

We have some unbelievable donors. Join them, score some music from the show, and nab a t-shirt all while making Flamingos happy. What a win for all!

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/10200831/plastic-flamingo-presents-fit-a-new-play

Pictures from the Fit Marketing Video Shoot

Some fun stills from our Fit marketing video shoot.
Featuring:
Lauren Connolly
Harmony Stempel
and
Molly Stoller

Nytheatre.com checks out Fit

Nytheatre.com asks us about Fit and we spill.

Nytheatre: What does your show sound like?

Erin Austin: Jonathan Cody White has arranged some gorgeous modern takes on traditional Celtic tunes that are performed live by our actors and musicians in Fit. The audience hears this play through the ears of Mary, the show's protagonist. She is a twenty year old American woman in Scotland for the first time. The resulting sound is Celtic, mystical, and foreign tinged with a modern American feel.


NyT: People who like your show would also like which famous movie or tv show?

EA: Fit has the sexy Scottish slums appeal of Trainspotting. It deals with addiction and mental disorders in a similar fashion to Showtime's Nurse Jackie- with humor. And if you like plays that are just a step to the left of realism- where the magical and the musical can happen, you will enjoy Fit.

NyT: Your show is the only one in 2011 FringeNYC that...

EA: is about the power of Celtic Women – raving influences in the hearts and minds of men and future generations.

NyT: Groucho, Chico, Harpo, or Zeppo?

EA: Harpo. Just like that Marx brother with his harp, in Fit we use music to make you laugh. Hopefully we also use music to make you think and keep you entertained.


Read the full interview at http://www.nytheatre.com/fnycpreview.aspx?s=12960

Plastic Flamingo is bringing Fit: A New Play to the New York International Fringe Festival.

Want to become a part of the NYC Indie Theatre Scene?
Want to help bring Fit to life on the NYC stage?
Want to keep Plastic Flamingo thriving for years to come?

Then Check out our video and DONATE NOW!

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/10200831/plastic-flamingo-presents-fit-a-new-play

Every Dollar Counts!

ANNOUNCING OUR FRINGE NYC DATES AND VENUE

Fit will make it’s World Premiere at Teatro LATEA

107 Suffolk St. 2nd Floor
Btw RIVINGTON and DELANCEY

FIT PERFORMANCE DATES

Wednesday 8/17 @ 2:00 pm
Thursday 8/18 @ 6:15 pm
Friday 8/19 @ 9:15 pm
Thursday 8/25 @ 2:00 pm
Saturday 8/27 @ 9:30 pm

For more information and to check out our newest video visit us at
http://www.plasticflamingo.org/productions.html

Kelly and Lindsey in the NYIT Festival!

Kelly and Lindsey are funny. You know this from their youtube videos, their open mic nights, and the notes they leave in your gym locker.

Now you can see them in the Midtown International Theatre Festival. Kelly and Lindsey Do New York: A non lesbian love story opens this Sunday (7/17) Also it is directed by PFTC's ROSS EVANS.

I'm asking these women the tough questions.
Erin: You guys have been performing together for quite a while. How and when did you meet?

Lindsey: I met Kelly about 3 years ago at an improv class at the Upright Citizens brigade. It was level 101 and she had the most disgusting mouth in the class. Seriously would not stop talking about doodie. What a monster.
Kelly: that's interesting, because when I heard her foul mouth I remember thinking, "wow she's beautiful". It was then that I fell in love.


E: Do you ever argue when you are coming up with material/writing?

L: We don't argue actually. We talk about what would be funnier, sometimes having a difference in opinion and we get it on our feet to see what is funnier. We usually agree on what we are writing because it is so US.
K: Lindsey will throw a line out that's very Lindsey and I will throw a line out that is super Kelly and it just kind of works.
L: Kelly still wants to bring back the German Doctors, which were characters in our first show and THEY DID NOT WORK. PLEASE tell her they did not work.
K: YOU HOLD YOUR TONGUE.


E:Who are the funniest comedians we should be paying attention to these days?

L: We love local artists like Ophira Eisenberg, Adam Wade, Tom Shillue and Ali Wong.
K: Get into it!

E: Your show focuses a lot on dating and love in NYC. So, what is the best way for a guy to pick up girl in a bar?

L: I don't have a clue because men don't talk to me. They actually run away from me. Because I am a troll with branch hands. So all I can say is, if you want something GO FOR IT.
K: But don't be creepy

E: You guys are babes, any beauty secrets for us?

L: Hmmm, i think the key to good hair is not brushing it. I seriously DO NOT brush my hair. I didn't have a brush until my mom left hers here last time she was in town.
K: We also bathe in the blood of virgins to keep our youth


E:If you have to compare yourself to another duo in show biz who would it be and why?

L: We like to say we are like Lucy and Ethel meet Ren and Stimpy.
K: We definitely get our poop jokes from Ren and Stimpy.
L: And Kelly has fleas.

E: Are your parents coming to the show? Is it weird to make sex jokes in front of your parents?

L: Yes, our parents are coming to the show. Actually our entire families are coming... even my cute little nana. We are both a little concerned about the big black dildo, but our parents are pretty cool and I think they will totally feel confident about paying our college tuitions and we are writing a show about trying to get laid.
K: I'm still pretty concerned about the big black dildo.

E: Any advice for artists who want to write and perform their own work?

L: It's tough, it's a lot of work. But just think, you are in control, it's your baby, and you have the choice whether you should abort it or keep it.
K: This is why we must support organizations like planned parenthood.... wait, what was the question?

E: What is your best "how many does it take to screw in a light bulb" joke?
L: How many comedians does it take to screw in a lightbulb? I don't know but what are you doing later? Wanna make out?

Get tickets and join me at the show at http://www.midtownfestival.org/ I'll be sitting by Lindsey's nana.

More photos from our fundraising party

Here are some more delightful pictures from our past event. If you missed it and want to support PFTC visit our kickstarter site and donate today!
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/10200831/plastic-flamingo-presents-fit-a-new-play

Plastic Flamingo and K & L PartAAY

Fun. Fun.... Fun.
Plastic Flamingo Fundraiser with Kelly and Lindsey. Comedy, music, and booze.
Photos by Niki Budnick
See all of our photos from the party on our facebook page.
http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Plastic-Flamingo-Theatre-Company/95145323755

Our friends at Panicked Productions get absurd!

Not to brag, but we have cool friends. Case in point, our former classmates/partners in theatre crime are producing Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead in the Midtown International Fringe Festival this month. And here is the twist- they are using an all female cast. Cool. Anyways. I wrangled Glenn De Kler, director of R&G away from rehearsal for five minutes and got the real answers on the show- Panicked's take on the modern classic, Stoppard's idea of "cool", and how The Big Lebowski and Shakespeare are related.

EA: R & G is a really difficult play. Just ask 10th grader Erin in English class. What themes or ideas in this play made you want to bring it to life?

GDK:I also read this play for the first time in High School. I remember I loved it right away, but it was purely for the rapid-fire comedic banter, and the farcical energy of the whole thing. It wasn’t until my slightly more brooding college years when I revisited it, that I really appreciated the existential layers. I've always been interested in the “absurdist” genre, which immediately appealed to me because of the name alone, and the idea that life and the whole pretentious intellectual pursuit of finding the ultimate meaning of life is, well, absurd.

EA: Gender role reversal. I love it. Were there obstacles in this directorial choice inherent in the script or was it smooth sexual identity sailing?

GDK: The identies in the play are so fluid already. The other characters confuse Rosencrantz and Guildenstern with each other, and they even get mixed up themselves. We're also having the Tragedians play all the Hamlet characters. So, there's a fair amount of identity confusion inherent in the show. I told all our actors at the beginning that I didn't want them to play men, we're going to keep all the same pronouns and play the parts naturally. When we first applied for the rights, I was a little concerned that we wouldn't get approved because of the gender reversal, even though I felt that it was still in the spirit of the play. In the end though, Mr. Stoppard felt the same way, or, at least his literary agent did.

EA: The great thing about absurdism is that it can be portrayed in so many styles, tones, etc. What kind of production should we expect to see from Panicked?

GDK: A quote that I came across when I was doing my first research for this show was an observation Tom Stoppard made. He said he'd seen numerous productions of this show and two of them were failures. Those two productions did not treat the show as a comedy. I want to stick close to what made me love this show the first time I encountered it, the Laurel & Hardy/Martin & Lewis energy of R & G. I mean I love the existentialist metaphors, but I don't want to focus on that. Those ideas are all inherent in the text, and those fans will get them. I want everyone to have a good time, so we're going to "keep the laughs coming too fast to ponder the nature of existence."

EA: R& G elaborates on two characters that we don't get to know too much about in Hamlet. What short lived or barely there characters come to mind in popular culture: movies, literature, plays, etc. that you would like to see star in an existential riff on their original brief roles?

GDK: Wow. I barely know where to begin. One of the first people that comes to mind is Donnie from The Big Lebowski. Now, most people would assume that he is a main character, but it isn't until his eulogy that I learned he was a surfer. I knew all along that he was a good bowler, and a good man, but what else didn't we know about Theodore Donald Kerabastos? Also Bluto from Animal House, again, someone that seems like a main character, and even delivers one of the most rousing calls to action in cinematic history, but in the end we're left wondering: "Who were you John Blutarsky?" Perhaps it would be more impressive for me to say I'd like to know more about Charles Foster Kane, but, there it is.

EA: Like many famous and successful actor/director duos, you are directing your wife: the lovely and talented Jessica De Kler. What is that process like?

GDK: Admittedly, I was a little concerned about what that would be like, but it's turned out to be a complete joy. She may not have the confidence in my organizational abilities, or my tidiness around the house, but she definitely knows how dedicated I am to storytelling and has confidence in my vision for the show. She was also a little apprehensive at making a return to the stage after nearly six years, but I had complete faith in her and campaigned for a few months for her to take on the role. She' gotten right back on the bike, like I knew she would, and she really shines It's been great to be able share in this thing that we both love so much.

EA: Tell us about Panicked Productions. Why the name? What is your mission? And what is next?

GDK: Panicked Productions was born in 2006 when we did a revival of Boys' Life at Ensemble Studio Theater, in a space that we got for free because it wasn't air conditioned. We came up with the name because we were feeling pretty panicked at the time, and it was originally going to be a placeholder until we thought of something else. But once we were finished we had all fallen in love with it, so it became the official name we registered. Panicked has and will always be dedicated to providing opportunities to emerging theater artists. That includes us at the moment, but when we inevitably become outrageously successful, we'll have to find another way to produce our works. Panicked will always be about cultivating the next generation of theater.

As for what's next, it's an exciting time because R&G is the first half of our first two show season. Coming in the fall is a show called Follow the Leader. We challenged six playwrights, including a couple, ahem, Flamingos, to create scenes based on the word "cult", leaving the interpretation entirely up to the playwright. The results have been really diverse and interesting, and we can't wait to launch into production right on the heels of this show.

For more information on Panicked Productions visit:http://www.panickedproductions.com/
To get tickets to see Rosencrantz and Guildenstern visit: http://www.midtownfestival.org/