Broadway Bares: Happy Endings

     I won't lie.  I had something to prove with Broadway Bares this year.  I've been doing my thing as a choreographer for a while now, but for some reason people haven't been thinking of me as a performer recently.  I'd go to auditions, deliver on the floor, but just haven't been getting gigs in that capacity.  So I challenged myself to throw down and show that I still 'got it.'  Mission accomplished.

     

     I performed in the "Pied Piper" number choreographed by the incomparable Peter Gregus.  In it, Marty Lawson played the piper who beckoned all his punk-rock, kilt-wearing mates to join him in a throw down testosterone-laden aggressive 'jig.'  We DESTROYED the number.  There were kilts, there was stripping, there were men dancing down.  I have never danced harder or been more naked at Broadway Bares, and I loved every minute of it.  And I'm so grateful for these incredible shots captured by Kevin Thomas Garcia and Matthew Murphy, returning photographer gods that every year document the insanity that is the evening.  

     In addition to my performing duties, I once more assisted mega-talent Michael Lee Scott.  After our collaboration on "Broadway Bares: Beach Burlesque", it was pure joy to get in the studio with him and help out with his number.  For "Happy Endings", he created the "Goldilocks" strip.  Andy Mills played the hapless twink who stumbled into the den of the bears.  And WHAT bears!  Finally, a Broadway Bares tribute to hairy men.  It was a blast welcoming a new crowd into the community!  Pictures of the "Goldilocks" strip below.  Woof!

Official recap of Broadway Bares: Happy Endings HERE.
Talented Photographers KEVIN THOMAS GARCIA and MATTHEW MURPHY.

Assistant Directed Broadway Bares: Beach Burlesque!

     I love BCEFA.  I'm just going to say it.  It is an incredible cause that is close to my heart, and in true Broadway fashion they know how to put on one damn good show.  Last summer I assistant directed BROADWAY BARES: MASTERPIECE for Josh Rhodes and Lee Wilkins.  And the show was utterly fabulous.  Imagine my surprise when I got an email out of the blue asking me to assist again!  This time, though, I got to be much more hands-on.

     BROADWAY BARES: BEACH BURLESQUE was a 'touring' company.  Instead of the mainstage show at Roseland with a cast of over 200, this version was intimate.  26 dancers.  Fire Island.  Fun in the sun.  MICHAEL LEE SCOTT directed and I assisted.  The beauty of BEACH BURLESQUE is that all the performers got to be in multiple numbers.  And because it was a smaller show with a smaller staff, I got to have more responsibility and really show what I could do!  I assisted Michael in creating choreography for the opening number "Burlesque is Back", the Elvis strip "A Little Less Conversation", a beachy strip with naked bathing beauties to Madonna's "Rain", and a cowboy fantasia "A Big Man."  I also got to lead my own rehearsal in restaging the iconic "Humpty" number originally choreographed by the badass DENIS JONES.  Oh, and transitions.  All the little bits and pieces that kept the show flowing along.

     The entire experience was incredible.  The cast were amazing performers and awesome human beings.  The production team and BCEFA liasons were phenomenal.  It was my first experience of Fire Island and it was just magic.  Oh, and in addition to assisting, I strapped on my performer shoes and strutted my stuff with all the rest.  What a dream team!

     You can check out the official recap HERE with a synopsis and photos from the show.

     Oh yeah, and this happened.  Still got it.

"Looping" at the Choreographer's Canvas

     My second time presenting a piece for the Choreographer's Canvas, and my choreo is growing by leaps and bounds!  The first year, I debuted "The Lady in the Street."  It was my first true narrative and my longest piece.  A man seduces a woman and brings her back to his place, but once he gets her in bed she flips the tables and becomes the aggressor (aided by her vengeful fury henchwomen).  About 5 minutes with a cast of 4.  "Looping" is a different beast.

     9 dancers.  Over 5 minutes long.  4 individual vignettes that combine to illustrate an overaching theme.  It was an ambitious dance.  I loved creating it with some fabulous performers and I love the story it tells.  It's emblematic of the work that I enjoy doing.  About human connection.  Contemporary. Romantic.  Real.  I got a fantastic response from this one and I'm so proud to share it with the world.
Without further ado...

"Looping"

"Looping" dress rehearsal

     In Atlanta, I had an incredible experience sitting back and observing another person's process, but as soon as I got back to NY I needed to be my own artist again.  Stop watching, start doing.  So I began creating a new dance.  "Looping" was originally presented as a part of the 2012 Choreographer's Canvas at MMAC.  While I was rehearsing it, I realized that I wanted to extend my network of collaborators and meet new artists.  I opened my dress rehearsal to photographers who were potentially interested in dance photography.  I had a room full of incredibly talented dancers and had them choreographed to make some incredibly beautiful pictures.  So why not invite more people into that world, just to play and see what develops?  The photographers would have a chance to explore dance photography, the dancers would get some shots they may be able to use for self-promotion, and I'd get to meet some new talent.  Winning all around.  Travis Kelley ended up taking me up on that offer, and as a result I can't praise www.traviskelleyphotography.com enough.  He does stunning work and I'm so lucky that he came to document our rehearsal.  Here's some moments that he captured at our working dress rehearsal.

Ghost Brothers of Darkland County

     This February/March, I left the big apple for a Georgia peach.  After three years of applying, I finally landed an SDC Observership.  The director/choreographer union has a program that allows an emerging artist to shadow a master director or choreographer on a production, from the first rehearsal through opening night.  I've come close before, getting the chance to interview on projects with such luminaries as Casey Nicholaw, JoAnn Hunter, and Kathleen Marshall.   And this spring, I was honored to be 'in the room' with Susan V. Booth, artistic director of the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta.

     The project was Ghost Brothers of Darkland County, a world premiere gothic blues musical with a book by Stephen King, music by John Mellencamp, and T-Bone Burnett as music director.  A dream team.  I fell in love with this show for a variety of reasons.  I aspire to do original musicals.  Revivals and regional productions are great and I would never disparage them, but there's something special about finding the best way to tell a story for the first time.  Additionally, I love stories set in the contemporary world.  The music is incredible.  And the show pulls no punches.  Blood and guts and real gritty storytelling without a musical theater 'sheen.'  Authentic.  The kind of work I aspire to create.

     Watching Susan at work, I realized just how lucky I was.  It was a gift to see her shepherding this show to it's first production.  And I learned that I'm capable of being a director.  My background is in dance, but it's also heavily based in storytelling.  I've worked as an actor.  I've studied script analysis.  And through the course of the observership, I got the opportunity to put my hand in here and there.  Working on an acting beat, rehearsing choreography, emailing thoughts.  And I realized that I know more than I thought I did.  And that's the biggest gift of all.  Confidence.

     In a major step forward, after completing the observership I became an associate member of the SDC.  I am now 'in the loop' with all that the director/choreographer union has going on.  I can ask for help with contracts, get in the door for networking, and meet up with other former observers to exchange information and potentially collaborate.  I also received an incredible compliment from the director of the observer program.  After reading my recap of my experience, she responded that while looking at my response she had never been more sure that an observer would go on to become an artistic director.  Pretty inspiring compliment.

     Right now, Ghost Brothers is in NYC doing a developmental reading.  I have my fingers crossed for them.  It is truly a special show and completely unlike anything currently out there.  And it was a joy to see it come to life for the first time.  Also a joy?  To watch, to learn, and then to stop watching and start doing.  Loving being my own artist again!  Off to the studio right now to do some pre-pro.  Hi ho, the glamorous life!

Are You There, Ann-Margret? It's Me! Highlights

This project was just...fun.  Such a blast choreographing in classic Vegas spectacle style.  Camp and cheese and glitter and sequins.  Trying to live up to the legend.  Here's a highlight reel to give a taste of what we did.  My unofficial off-broadway 'debut' as a choreographer.  Fingers crossed that there's a future production somewhere/somehow.  It was truly fabulous!

Oooopsie. I'm a bad blogger.

     So it's been months since I've posted.  And that's okay.  I've been working.  But now I think it's time to catch up.  Logging in to write this post, I saw that this little blog has 1028 page views.  So SOMEONE is paying attention, which is awesome!  I'm not really aware of any other choreographers documenting their projects in this way, and I think it's helpful to see the evolution of a career with much more information than a line on a resume can illustrate.  So hopefully the posts will be coming fast and furious until I'm up to date.  But as a teaser, here's the list of work to come.....

-video highlights from Are You There, Ann-Margaret?  It's Me!

-SDC Observership with Susan V. Booth on Ghost Brothers of Darkland County

-premiere of "Looping", a new piece, with The Choreographer's Canvas

-assistant directing Broadway Bares: Beach Burlesque

-assisting on "Goldilocks" and performing in "Pied Piper" for Broadway Bares: Happy Endings

-performing the lead and choreographing "Pharmaceutical: The Musical" for TinyRhino

-directing "Good Men.  Bad Men.  Very Bad Men." for the Insomniac's 24 hour play festival

-choreographing my first music video, "Sebastian", for artist Danny Blu

and a couple projects that are still being developed and will be making appearances in the future.  More music videos, revisiting previous dances at new venues, and one super special project that I'm developing from scratch.  It is still in total infancy stages, but I just want to put it into the universe in some form that people who are interested in my work can discover on their own and ask me about.  Romantic's Requiem.  I think it is going to become something stunning.  In a couple years.  But the seed has been planted.

That's all for now.  A teaser.  And a preview of things to come.  I'm back on top of making this online tool an actual resource.  A peak into my creative process.  Because I think I'm doing some pretty cool work and would love to find other people who feel the same and want to help me do more of it.  Yay original art!  And yay online presence!  I'm back.

Are You There, Ann-Margret? It's Me! Photos

Just a li'l taste of the show.  Loved working with this talented and uber-fabulous cast!

Photos by Francis Fanini

Are You There, Ann-Margret? It's Me!

This gig absolutely fell into my lap. A choreographer friend of mine was working on the project, then he got swamped with some even bigger/better high profile gigs (and we're talking HIGH PROFILE) and sent the star my way. A diva, three backup dancers, and 90 minutes of fabulous costumes and iconic numbers. Even better, because the show runs for 3 nights and the theater seats over 100, it technically qualifies as my Off-Broadway debut. Fancy. Feels good to sink my teeth into a massive endeavor, and feels great to have friends sending work my way. The reputation continues to grow! Onward and upward...

Camelot...It's a HIT!

So this was the first show I worked on that was actually reviewed by the press. And after all the work we put into it, it felt damn good to get such a positive response! I even got some love for the dances! Never had pull quotes before, so this definitely feels like a giant step in the right direction. Some favorites below, and links to full reviews.

"Jon Balcourt's seven-piece orchestra and Sidney Erik Wright's choreography enhance the classic score."-----Newsday

"Choreography was by Sidney Erik Wright; neatly done."-----Times Beacon

"Choreographer Sidney Erik Wright introduces elements of ballet mixed with contemporary moves."-----Theatermania

Broadwayworld

Camelot media

I choreographed Camelot at the John W. Engeman Theater, directed by Alan Souza. It was my first legit regional theater production. Rehearsing in NYC, 6 weeks of performances. The show was absolutely stunning and I'm incredibly proud of the work we were able to do with the movement. Here are some links to video to show the scale of the physical production.

Interviews #1

Interviews #2

And just a couple photos...

I'm back!

No blog posts in a while. Not because I've been twiddling my thumbs, but because I've actually been doing super fun things and focusing on the work more than the blog. And that's okay. But I wanted to bring this up to date-ish, and share some of the really awesome projects I've been doing. So expect blog postings to be coming fast and furious in the next few weeks. Playing catchup to current day. Which is the day before the first day of school for another super awesome project. But I'll get to that after I'm all caught up. Fun vids/pics/blogs on the way!