The Harris Family

Actors, Playwrights, Producers, Musicians, Designers, Stagehands

Interview #201

"We all came of age in the Experimental Theater Movement. We were kinda meeting the right people at the right time."
The Harris Family

Gerard Alessandrini

Director, Writer, Composer, Satirist, Producer, Forbidden Broadway

Interview #196

"I didn’t really enjoy being a child because the other children weren’t interested in what I was interested in. No other kids were listening to recordings of Madame Butterfly, Rigoletto or Carmen like I was. I’d not only listen for the music, but I was fascinated by the plots. Even though I grew up with opera, I learned to love theater, specifically theater with stories. I really love musical plays… because they kind of come from opera – not only is the music great, but the drama is too. It’s the fabulous invalid, so I suppose it will always survive in some form or other. I love people who still do shows with stories that have a point. ‘Gee I never thought of life that way…that’s an interesting take on how to think, act and feel!’ I love when you get that in theater!"
Gerard Alessandrini

Douglas Aibel

Director, Artistic Director, Producer, Casting Director, Vineyard Theatre

Interview #199

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Douglas Aibel

James Rocco

Director, Choreographer, Writer, Actor, Singer, Founder Thirty Saints Music Licensing and Thirty Saints Productions

Interview #195

"I think the Off and Off-Off-Broadway movement is what is coming to a head today…pushing the envelope and opening the door to all kinds of stage performances. It’s an extension of what we were doing off and off-off Broadway."
James Rocco

Mark Russell

Director, Producer, Artistic Director, Producing Artistic Director, PS 122, Under The Radar/The Public

Interview #191

"I felt like that community (dance) needed me. At that time dancers were trying to talk, tell their stories…the beginning of the crossover between dance and performance art …and I could say, ‘you know, if you hold your head still they will understand what you’re saying."
Mark Russell

Jackie Jeffries

Producer, Associate Productor, Production Manager, Production Stage Manager: Negro Ensemble Company, National Black Theatre, AUDELCO Awards

Interview #186

"If we generate our own income we can keep Black theaters alive. And we can partner with others to make it happen…let’s put it together, …let’s tell the story… we merged together as a people, we’re all one people, so let’s tell the stories… let’s keep it going, there’s so much possibility."
Jackie Jeffries

Hattie Winston

Actress, Director

Interview #190

"The Group Theatre Workshop was a place where we were being taught about life…not just acting…and having instilled in us a love for theater."
Hattie Winston

Craig Belknap (a.k.a. Allen R)

Actor, Director, Founder Direct Theatre, Inc.

Interview #193

"I’m somebody who treasures writers, that’s what it’s all about to me – it’s the words. And supporting those words in every way I can possibly do….The importance of Off-Broadway and Off-Off-Broadway is that without them there would be nowhere to start, nowhere out of school to do your work. They are as important as the regional theaters for the same reason."
Craig Belknap (a.k.a. Allen R)

Steve Kaplan

Producer, Director, Comedy Writer, Teacher, Actor, Co-Founder Manhattan Punch Line Theatre

Interview #192

"A lot of things are comedy. It’s not just the gag, not just the slipping on the banana peel, but that comedy tells the truth and specifically it tells us the truth about people, and sometimes the truth is sad. But it’s not tragic and it’s not melodrama. It’s that odd place between laughing and crying."
Steve Kaplan

Joe John Battista

Director, Artistic Director, Photographer, Musician, Founder, Screaming Mimes Theater Company

Interview #184

"Off-Off-Broadway is a staple…Off-Off-Broadway is a birthing place, like the universe, for the greatest shows…it’s a birthing place, and you’re not going to be able to do that in a theater that costs a million dollars to rent, or 500,000, or 100,000…you need to birth it in these little nurseries, little nurseries of talent and creativity…Off-Off-Broadway is the engine for everything."
Joe John Battista