The Crowd at From the Hip

The Grass is Always Greener...When it's Outside of Your Lungs

From the Hip in Central Park a SUCCESS! Winner announced on website!

Well, our first official From the Hip Festival went very well and was very well received by our audience. The winner of the festival, chosen by audience member ballot, is Paper Tiger, written by Greg Moss, directed by Darby Alexander and featuring Rebecca Spiro, Bobby Brower and Ryan P.A. Walsh. There was a tie for second place, and those plays were Smurfett's Wedding Special by Shareef Hadid Jenkins, directed by Dana Angelo and featuring Danika Wood, Kevin Russo, Samantha Maisano and Jeri Silverman; and The Grass is Always Greener....When it's Outside Your Lungs by Dana Angelo, directed by Shareef Hadid Jenkins and featuring Matt Bayer, Jamie Rosler, Katherine Gordon and Ashley Heiner.

From 10 am when the casts began rehearsing outside at Cedar Hill, people watched and stopped and asked what we were doing. A few people who asked what we were up to even showed up some hours later to enjoy the show. As we performed we were surrounded by people enjoying the park, which is the ambience we were going for. But two 10-year olds playing soccer felt that familiar lure of the limelight, and fancied themselves in the plays as well. They shouted, showed off some soccer moves behind and sometimes directly in front of the action onstage. It was a little distracting to be sure, but that's live theater in a park!

All the plays (all listed in previous posts) were wonderful, and all the players worked so hard, again demonstrating how thrilling spontaneous theater can be. We at Left Hip can't wait for the next one; this time it will be indoors!

From The Hip: TODAY AT 5PM

Come one, come all to our FREE SHOW in Central Park. From the Hip is holding its inaugural festival in Central Park this afternoon. Many wonderful artists will be highlighted. Bring a blanket, bring a picnic, bring some alcohol (just don't tell the Parks Department we told you to).

We will be presenting 5 ten minute plays as well as 6 two minute plays.

Enter at East 79th street at 5th Avenue. There will be people with signs on them that say From the Hip. You won't be able to miss us. The show, which takes place at Cedar Hill, is just a short walk from the park entrance.

Donations will be greatly appreciated.

From the Hip: Central Park: Play Titles, Cast, and Crew

For those of you who attended From the Hip: Central Park today, we asked you to check out our blog for information on our cast and crew. Here is a complete list of the plays and who was responsible for them.

Group A: Part 1

Title: Love in the Ruins

Playwright: R. Arson Teague

Director: Joshua Paul Johnson

Actor: Le-Anne Garland

Actor: Meredith Sladek

Actor: Stella Monica Mpande

Group B

Title: The Rat Race

Playwright: Ben Hertzfeld

Director: Greg Cicchino

Actor: Viet Vo

Actor: Blake Smith

Actor: Kibibi Dillon

Group A: Part 2

Title:

Playwright: R. Arson Teague

Director: Joshua Paul Johnson

Actor: Le-Anne Garland

Actor: Meredith Sladek

Actor: Stella Monica Mpande

Group C

Title: The Pursuit of Love

Playwright: Diamando Stratakos

Director: David Chase

Actor: Miles Del Ray

Actor: Lisa Easley

Actor: Alexa Servodidio

Actor: Dennelle Heidi Clarke

Group A: Part 3

Title: Dragons

Playwright: R. Arson Teague

Director: Joshua Paul Johnson

Actor: Le-Anne Garland

Actor: Meredith Sladek

Actor: Stella Monica Mpande

Group D

Title: Smurfett's Wedding Special

Playwright: Shareef Hadid Jenkins

Director: Dana Angelo

Actor: Danika Wood

Actor: Samantha Maisano

Actor: Jeri Silverman

Actor: Kevin Russo

Group E: Part 1

Title: Park Play

Playwright: Darby Alexander

Director: Greg Moss

Actor: Shannon Beck

Actor: Kelsey Schelling

Actor: Monika Baskiewicz

Group F

Title: Paper Tiger

Playwright: Greg Moss

Director: Darby Alexander

Actor: Ryan P. A. Walsh

Actor: Bobby Brower

Actor: Rebecca Spiro

Group E: Part 2

Title: Park Ghosts

Playwright: Darby Alexander

Director: Greg Moss

Actor: Shannon Beck

Actor: Kelsey Schelling

Actor: Monika Baskiewicz

Group G

Title: The Grass is Always Greener... When It's Outside of Your Lungs

Playwright: Dana Angelo

Director: Shareef Hadid Jenkins

Actor: Matt Bayer

Actor: Jamie Rosler

Actor: Katherine Gordon

Actor: Ashley Heiner

Group E: Part 3

Title: Park Missfire

Playwright: Darby Alexander

Director: Greg Moss

Actor: Shannon Beck

Actor: Kelsey Schelling

Actor: Monika Baskiewicz

First From the Hip Festival Planned

Hello, this is the first blog posting as the newly formed Left Hip Productions! We also have a new name for our weekend of ten-minute plays: From the Hip! We are very excited with these new developments and can't wait to start getting our feet wet with the all the exciting tasks involved with starting a theater company: non-profit status, logos, fonts, websites (we have an awesome one created by Diamando Stratakos, lefthipproductions.com) business cards (can't wait to show you what we've got in store as a business card!)
But first things first: From the Hip will be happening in just one week, Saturday, September 26th at Cedar Hill in Central Park! We decided to have it happen in Central Park because it would be a great way to get a new audience. Think of all those people walking through the park who are just looking for a great entertainment! We also thought it would be nice to spend an Autumn day in the park while the weather is still beautiful. We do have a raindate for Sunday, September 27th, just in case it's not quite so beautiful on Saturday. From the Hip starts on the 26th at 5pm at Cedar Hill, entrance at East 79th Street. See you there!