The Cast and crew |
AARON HABER (Director) is very proud to be working with Elisa for the second time, having directed her play "Pledge Break" in 2005 for The Yankee Rep. When he's not directing shows, you can find him performing his unique brand of stand up comedy around NYC but especially in his comedy room "The World" (www.TheWorldNYC.com). Aaron would like to thank the cast and crew for making this show happen as well as his Mom and Dad for making him happen. (www.AaronHaber.com)
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ELISA DeCARLO (Writer/Fashionista) is delighted to be part of this festival again. She is a festival veteran, having performed in the first Frigid Festival in her solo show “Pointless Rebellion,” many San Francisco Fringe Festivals from 1995-2005, DIVAfest at the Exit in 2003, the New York Fringe Festival in 1997, and Solopalooza in Chicago in 1997. Her solo show Toasted, a true-crime story, has won awards across the country (including Best of the Fest in the 2004 Midtown Theater Festival and Best Female Solo Performance at the 2001 SF Fringe). Elisa’s other solo shows include I Love Drugs, Cervix With A Smile (2005 Bay Guardian Critic’s Choice Award), and Size Matters (Westbeth Theater Center). Elisa and Austin Pendleton read her two-character drama Buddy n’ Janice at HBO.
“Diary of A Mad Fashionista” is based on her comic blog, which has been quoted in The New York Times.
(http://diaryofamadfashionista.blogspot.com) |
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SHANNON SUTHERLAND (Mindy, Nicole Kidman, etc.) was raised in Kansas but decided to leave when her fellow classmates made fun of her fabulous Betsey Johnson dress. So Shannon moved to Michigan to attend the prestigious Interlochen Arts Academy. Next Shannon moved to New York and graduated from the Tisch School of the Arts with a degree in theatre. After college she started doing stand-up comedy and has performed at Stand-Up NY, Gotham Comedy Club, New York Comedy Club, and the Broadway Comedy Club. She has also appeared in a sketch with Rob Corddry on “The Daily Show” and has done segments on Sirius Satellite Radio’s Maxim Channel.
Now Shannon can be seen doing stand-up regularly at the Broadway Comedy Club and has a fashion blog: http://shannonspassion.blogspot.com. |
DINA EPSHTEYN (Assistant Director) recently directed a reading of Stephen Massicotte's newest play, The Clockmaker, at Urban Stages. She has also assistant directed several productions at regional theaters—including this summer's world premiere of David Wiltse's Sedition at the Westport Country Playhouse, Mary's Wedding at the same theater, and, in the fall, HEARTS at Baltimore's CENTERSTAGE. Dina has also directed short plays at the Westport County Playhouse.
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ALEX MOORE,(Lighting Design) recent designs include Tambourines to Glory and CLOSER at Teatro La TEA, 36-24-36 at Center Stage New York, The Tempest directed by Jim Calder at Angel Orensanz Foundation and Nate and Bette at Theatre Row. Also, Miles To Babylon directed by Tom Thorton at American Theatre of Actors and The Ballad of Eddie and Jo – a world premiere by David Sard, the 2004 Lee Strasberg One Act Contest Winner – directed by Lorca Peress at Hudson Theatre Guild. Alex is head of BMA lighting and Technical Director for Teatro La TEA.
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GREG LEMAIRE (Stage Manager) is a graduate from St. John’s College with a B.S. in Television and Film Production. He has production experience working on feature films in New York as well as Theater, working as Stage Manager, and camera operator for off-Broadway productions. Currently Greg is Stage Manager for Literally Alive Productions, which is presenting The Velveteen Rabbit at the Player’s Theater
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TERESA GARIJAS (Wardrobe Supervisor) has been in New York for several years where she has been applying her knowledge as stage crew member for various theatrical endeavors, including plays and readings with Times Square Playwrights and more recently Interborough Repertory Theatre Company. She has a BA in Theatre and Film studies from The University of Wolverhampton in England and intends to resume acting sometime later this year. This is her first and hopefully not the last project with Elisa DeCarlo. She is a resident singer/guitarist at O' Flaherty's Bar in Manhattan with her band Covered UP every Tuesday night (www.myspace.com/coveredupmusic) and a guest singer with HOLiMOLi on Saturdays (www.myspace.com/holimolimusic).
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What they say about the fashionista |
DIARY OF A MAD FASHIONISTA:
"If you can't remember the last time you read something so funny your side hurt, then get your backside over to this Mad Fashionista's blog site. This is one seriously funny writer."
Vintage Grace.com
"She’s a sassy, irreverent, plus size New Yorker...a fabulously funny blog."
TheThreeTomatoes.com
"Truly a cool blog with great commentary on fashion and life. Well done, Fashionista. Keep up the good work."
Billy Mac, CritiqueMyBlog
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POINTLESS REBELLION, 2007
“The heart of POINTLESS REBELLION lies within the lifelong conflict between DeCarlo and her father, a brilliant but flawed man…Both funny and moving.”
Michael Crusciolo – New York Theatre.com
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TOASTED, 2006
“Although many one-person shows come off as self-indulgent, DeCarlo’s piece is harrowing and hysterical, and rightly reveals as much about her troubled past as it does about the murderer’s. Don’t worry though; she’s not going to hurt you. She may be a killer performer, but she’s not a killer.”
Raven Snook – The L Magazine, July 2006
“A riveting theatrical achievement that will linger in your memory long after the show is over. “
Theatermania.com
“She doesn’t present herself as a hero crusading for justice, but rather as a confused woman attempting to do the right thing. That she happens to be a performance artist makes solo performance—the very medium she claims to dislike, with all of its messiness and exhibitionistic connotations—the natural medium in which to share her story. And that her story provides such messy, eerie, funny shades of self-dramatization in all of its characters and situations is what makes the performance a fascinating one to behold.”
Jeffrey Lewonczyk, nytheatre.com
“Pure Solo Dynamite!”
Robert Hurwitt, San Francisco Chronicl
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CERVIX WITH A SMILE, 2005
“A packed house roaring with laughter"
Robert Hurwitt, San Francisco Chronicle
"DeCarlo looks like a demure homemaker who's destroyed more homes than she's made. A sharp satirist and a skilled actor.”
Robert Avila, San Francisco Bay Guardian
Bay Guardian’s Critics’ Choice for the 2005 San Francisco Fringe Festival
“DeCarlo, a rubber-faced comedian with wide eyes and a broad smile, takes on both sexes,”
Andy Propst, Backstage
“Anyone who saw TOASTED is aware that DeCarlo's way with a story - in both the writing and the delivery - is entirely her own, and the bases are always loaded even when you're not sure who's up at bat.”
Matthew Murray, Talkinbroadway.com |
I LOVE DRUGS, 1997
“Though solo performers are a dime a gross these days, this hasn't translated into a surplus of great shows. That's why Elisa DeCarlo's bracingly honest one-woman tragicomedy is such a treat. One woman plays all the members in an extended dysfunctional family--DeCarlo avoids the easy laughs and instead portrays each character with a vivid realism usually found in larger cast dramas. The funny thing is, for all her raw intensity, DeCarlo's still hilarious.”
Jack Helbig, "Critic's Choice,” Chicago Reader |
