I must admit, Constant Reader, that it’s becoming progressively harder and harder to write these weekly posts of mine. It’s not that there’s nothing happening in my life, creatively or otherwise – I’m ridiculously busy at the moment. It’s just that I’m not really able to talk about anything that’s going on. In some cases, the projects I’m working on are still in a nascent state of development, and the act of writing about them would materially affect the outcome of that project. In other cases, there are ongoing legal issues which, again, I can’t comment on without potentially affecting the legal outcome. That may seem like a hyperbolic statement – unless you’ve spent any time at the Lower East Side’s Theatre 80 of late.
For as long as I’ve been coming to Naked Angels’ Tuesdays at Nine, the reading series which I currently co-host – that’s about ten years, give or take a pandemic or two – we’ve been based at Theatre 80. It’s a marvelous, atmospheric space, large enough to hold our rambunctious crew and full of history. And it’s no longer available. The theatre was forced to close its doors indefinitely last week, after a protracted legal battle. You can read about it here; there’s not much I’m able to add to this account. I could add to the account, of course, but again, ongoing legal issues here.
Tuesdays at Nine is fine for the rest of the season. We were able to secure a last-minute venue for this past Tuesday’s readings, and from this week through the end of our season on May 23rd, we’ll be at the Kraine Theatre (also in the Lower East Side, for those of you who’ve never been). But even though this has been the major news in my life – and really has been since we returned to in-person readings about a year ago – there’s nothing I can say about it. I can’t really add to the official story of Theatre 80’s struggles. I can’t tell you how things are going at the Kraine, since we start there Tuesdays. And I can’t tell you what our plans are for next season, since we haven’t made them yet.
So instead, I’d like to extend my thanks to my friends Carlo and Gia at Alchemical Studios, where we held our reading last week. Several years ago, I made use of Alchemical’s rehearsal spaces when preparing my show in the NY Fringe Festival (RIP), Dragon’s Breath. That space was forced to close due to the pandemic, but they recently opened gorgeous new facilities in a brand new location. I would be remiss if I didn’t recommend their space to anybody who might be interested – you can learn more about them here.
Anyway, after dealing with all that I wanted to provide them with a little free advertising. I’ll go back to selling my own wares next week.