Where do you go if you are a young playwright and want to have your play produced? The answer is the NY WinterFest and NY Summerfest’s. This year at the Summerfest Robert Williams gave 60 plays, 14 musicals, 50 shorts, 8 solo plays, 325 actors, 330 actresses and 130 directors, a chance to perform, be seen and reviewed. The festival ran from July to October with 130 productions making it to the stage. Each brought their own unique story, perspective, designs that inspired and captivated their audiences. Each was required to enlist the bravery and inventiveness of live theatre that didn’t rely on special effects, Hollywood stars or huge budgets.

The 2019 SummerFest has come to an end. Here are the nominees for the Best of the Fest.

Best Play or Musical $3000

Am I Blue? – by DeShawn Aaron Jenkins 

Lilith In Pisces – by Kayla Eisenberg 

Chasing Jack – by John Anastasi 

Humanity’s Child – by John Tierney 

Junior – Marshall Evans 

Borders – by Maera Daniel Hagage 

Aussie Song – by Frances Key 

Best Short $500

Honesty In An Apology – by Nathan David Smith 

Molotov Cocktail – Edward J. Fee 

Nonno In The Basement – by Robert LoManto 

Night Turns Day – by Michael David Johnson 

Best Director $500

Samantha Baptiste = Junior 

Peter Loewy = Chasing Jack 

DeShawn Aaron Jenkins = Am I Blue? 

Meghan Mulcahy and Reilly Johnson = ReallyReally 

Marlow Scott = Over The Rainbow 

Keena McDonald = Humanity’s Child 

Ellie Handel – Aussie Song 

Best Actor $500

Ernest Mingione = Nonno In The Basement 

Nathan Tolliver = Am I Blue?

Patrick Hamilton  = Chasing Jack 

J. Marshall Evans = Junior 

Tony White = The Sample 

Augustus Oicle = Really Really 

Nathan Tolliver = Am I Blue?

Best Actress $500

Johnnie Mae = Night Turns To Day 

Patricia Field = Junior 

Kelsea Lea Jones = Chasing Jack 

Virginia Logan = Lilith In Pisces

Arlene Bozich = Cry Wolf 

Gretchen Schneider = Bossa Nova And Bees 

Best Singer $500

Evan Crommett = The Fling LP

James Kivlen = Hill & Holler 

Flor Lopardo = Second Story Man

Amanda Tong & Matthew J Taylor = Daughter of Society 

Jordan Stam = Aussie Song 

The WinterFest is still accepting submissions!

Now calling all playwrights: Here’s a chance to have your play live on a New York City Stage! Submit your work to the Winterfest festival competition. Accepting plays and musicals of all genres between 5-90 minutes in length. New York Theater Festival has been a haven for playwrights for 16 seasons—Read below to find out why!

SUBMIT by clicking on this link

Meghan Mulcahy is an NYC-based actor and director. Originally from the Pacific Northwest, Meghan went on to study at the Meisner Studio at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, where she expanded her artistry in Buenos Aries, Argentina and Barcelona, Spain. She received her BFA in Drama in 2017.  Really Really, first mounted in March at Gibney Dance Center, is her first directing project. An enthusiastic collaborator, Meghan strives to produce work that is accountable to the best of storytelling. In a time that is often chaotic and commercial, her work operates from a place of sensitivity, specificity, and clarity of purpose, no matter the scale.

Reilly Johnson is a Chicago-raised, New York-based actor and director who graduated with a BFA from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts in 2017. At NYU, Reilly studied at the Meisner Studio where she received the 2017 award for Outstanding Achievement in Acting. She studied under incredible faculty (Vicki Hart, Gigi Buffington, Nate Flower, and Lucas Caleb Rooney), who helped her to hone her craft and developed a strong passion for theater, film, and television. Really Really is her first directing project.

Reilly Johnson and Meghan Mulcahy are recent graduates of NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. As actors-turned-directors, this is their first directing project. They came together with the need to wrestle with theater that is risky, authentic, and immediate. When they encountered Really Really, nearly ten years after its writing, they were struck by its unabashed investigation of both sides of the “Me Too” era’s most vital conversation. It took the incendiary “he said/she said” conflict that we are seeing on national display and told it as a story between people whose motivations and actions never fit neatly into the predator/victim categories. Whatever bias you may walk in with, whoever you believe, this play will make you uncomfortable holding to that. In a time when so much seems black and white, with Really Really it has been our aim to stick our heads in the gray and stay there.

The challenge as actors has been to bring humanity to this group of people, and as directors to shape the story in the most truthful way possible, for all the characters.

Really Really: NY SummerFest, Hudson Theatre, 441 West 26th St. Sept. 21st @ 6:30

I first saw Paul Downs Colaizzo’s Really Really at MCC in 2013. Last night an ensemble of NYU Tisch School of the Arts alumni presented the work at the NY SummerFest and it was well done. Co-directors Meghan Mulcahy and Reilly Johnson, created an atmosphere of dorm life that seemed real and went against stereotypes.

The play begins with roommates Leigh (Reilly Johnson) and Grace (Natalie Shinnick) stumbling into their apartment drunk. The next morning, blood has covered the sheets from Grace’s fall onto broken glass. She is headed off to a conference for “Future Leaders of America”, but before she leaves she wants to hear all about Leigh’s night with Davis (Augustus Oicle), the boy she has been crushing on all year. Leigh, is the girl from the wrong side of the tracks, while everyone else has or comes from money.

Turns out Leigh is pregnant and her wealthy boyfriend Jimmy (Brian J. Sanchez), does not know about last night.

Davis rooms with best friend Cooper (Buchanan Jackson Highhouse) and both are nursing vicious hangover. Davis has no memory of the events, but news gets out when Rugby teammate and video-game obsessed Johnson (Jackson Dockery) and Cooper spill the beans.

Jimmy angrily confronts Leigh, but she tells him that she was raped and because of this lost the baby. The scandal threatening to destroy Davis’ life.  

When Leigh’s sister Haley (Courtney Sumlin) hears she sees an opportunity to cash onto what Leigh has gotten.

This group together is really really special, with Ms. Sumlin and Mr. Oicle really shinning.

I have always loved this play and Mr. Colaizzo’s words that seem to jump off the page with a realism that dares you to look at them. Meghan Mulcahy and Reilly Johnson have taken that a step further in their direction and the result is satisfying theatre.

I hope that this group will do what Bedlam did before them and stick together, form a company and keep on working together.

Really Really: NY SummerFest, Hudson Theatre, 441 West 26th St. Sept. 21st @ 6:30

In Sean Chandler’s new play Running, now playing at The NY SummerFest, politics are at the forefront. As secrets that are held are disclosed, this play hits the mark.

A couple of years ago closeted, married candidates were being outed in a very public manner. Like most candidates we saw in the paper and in the news, mayoral candidate Ed Shirko (a winning David Leeper), has treated his children like props, while ignoring his wife (a wooden Laura MacLean). His daughter Cassidy (a wonderful and comedic Dineen Markey) has a sharp tongue and is not afraid to say it like it is. His son Justin (a fabulous Jay William Thomas) has left the family fold due to his views clashing with his father. At his mother’s insistence he has come back to help strategize his father’s campaign.

Turns out the reason Ed was ignoring his wife, was because he was seeking pleasure elsewhere, mainly in peep rooms where gay men went to be pleasure through a glory hole. When Ed is caught having a heart attack in the most inconvenient places, his campaign and his family are in jeopardy.

His running mate (a soft spoken Laura Leigh Carroll) wants to take over as the candidate, but Ed has other ideas. In the end Justin becomes the candidate of choice in more ways than one.

The direction by Mark Robert Finely is well done and adds to the overall journey. Morry Campbell’s sound and music design is first rate.

Sean Chandler is a playwright to watch. His dialogue flows and he has taken what could be a movie of the week and made it interesting.

The reason to see this play however is Jay William Thomas who has the “it factor” in spades. He makes his character not just 3, but 4 dimensional. His scenes with Ms. Markey are well done. Mr. Thomas allows us to see the humanity in loving a father, who has lied and bullied his way through life.

In the end this is a father and son play with politics thrown in.

Running: The NY SummerFest: 441 West 26th Street. You can still catch the last two performances Saturday the 24th at 9:00pm and Sunday the 25th at 1:30pm.

I first reviewed John S. Anastasi courtroom drama Chasing Jack in 2017. Originally it was actually performed in a court at Fordham University , starring James DePaiva from the soap opera “One Life To Live.”

Now the cast is non equity, the script has been paired down, is part of the NY Summerfest and surprisingly enough is even better. 

The show is narrated by Dr. Jack Chase, a wonderful Patrick Hamilton. This skilled heart surgeon is in the fight for his life, as a malpractice lawsuit could end his career. Jack is being sued by his head nurse, Rebecca (Kelsy Lea Jones). We find out in the course of the show that Rebecca begged Dr. Chase to operate, but her husband died due to complications. His estranged daughter Taylor (Katy Wilson), winds up defending her father, despite their past, thanks to his business partner and fellow surgeon (Mike Meth).

In flashbacks and court room antics, we learn about Jack’s crippling gambling addiction, his dedication and obsession to his career and his medical ethics that have been breached. As secrets are revealed and plots laid out, this riveting, insightful and roller coaster of a ride is not done until the last card is drawn.

Mr. Hamilton, lets us see the flawed human being who fights his inner demons in Jack. We actually feel his journey and never second guess his next action, which leads to elements of surprise. This is an actor I want to see more of.

Ms. Wilson, is all ice and mater of fact. We completely understand how she got this way and our sympathies are with her all the way.

Ms. Jones is also a surprise and her transitions were flawless. She kept us guessing until the last minute.

Keeping the show light and adding a comedic aspect was Linda Browne as the judge with an attitude. 

I was impressed with Peter Loewy’s direction and scenic design. When this show was in a court room I thought this was the perfect place to perform this drama, but this production proves that it really can play anywhere.

John S. Anastasi play is relevant, interesting, entertaining and highly producible. Chasing Jack will keep you guessing until the last addicting second. 

Chasing Jack: NY Summerfest, Hudson Theatre Guild, 441 West 26^th St. Aug 3 at 9pm and Aug 4^that 1:30