Michael Markham

So blessed this weekend to be reunited with the cast of Civil War Voices. This is such a delightful group of people. We got together at PPI Studios at 19 Mercer Street to record a demo album for the show. It was my first time in the recording studio and I have to say I was a little terrified. I haven’t been in a musical since CWV closed 2 years ago. Fun was had by all.

I count myself luck to be a part of an exciting new piece of theater.  The Pandora’s Box Project was created by Jess Smith and Dante Smith (no relation) as a theatrical response to the “war on women.” It’s best describe in their own words from their Indie GoGo page:

Our plan of attack is to build a play–not a variety show, not a series of scenes–a play wherein the words of one writer will be juxtaposed against what others write. We are aiming for a collage that examines, elucidates, and honors this complex interchange of women, reproduction, subjugation, sex, power, and politics in Western thought. We are going to weave our combined words together and speak to a larger story. We may put Eve, Pandora, Salome, and Nora Helmer, or whoever else we feel needs to speak in the same room together. The point is to really dig into the issues, and to do so from as many perspectives as possible.

The play includes hundreds of submissions from playwrights and artists all over the country sharing their views and experience on/in this complex issue.

Today we had a first read of the collated material and began a discussion on what is working and what isn’t and why. This is what I want art to be about; engaging culture and dealing with the mess that is life in a true and illuminating way.

More updates on this project as they progress.

You can read more about the project at the following links

https://www.facebook.com/PandorasBoxProject

http://www.indiegogo.com/pandorasbox?c=home

As you may or may not know I have been working on a project for the past month at Columbia University with MFA Directing Candidate Tyne Rafaeli. We have been devising a play inspired by the life and marriages of Harold Pinter. We used his plays and a memoir by his second wife Antonia Fraser, Must You Go, as a starting point to explore relationships, the devastation caused by adultery, and what and who people will sacrifice for love and happiness. This has been a process that I have thoroughly enjoyed and I hope you can make it because I would love to share the work with you.

The show runs approximately 45 min and it’s FREE

Here are the details:

Saturday Dec 10th 7:00 and 9:30 pm

Sunday Dec 11th 2:00 pm

Columbia University Shapiro Studio Theater

615 West 115th St.

Just west of Broadway on the North side of the street

Take the stairs behind the security guard down to the theater.

We have an invited dress Friday Dec 9th at 8:00 pm. We want to keep this audience small so please if you can make another showtime go that one.

Directed by Tyne Rafaeli

Movement by Rachel Garis

Cast: Cameron Perry, Patrick Davis, Erin McGuff, Amanda Boekelheide, Ben Fisher, Justin Perez, Quincy Ellis, Nika Ezell Pappas, Allison Minick, Michael Markham

I was lucky enough to read the role of Lt. Ehrenberg in David Ian Lee’s The Curing Room at Manhattan Theater Source Monday, August 22nd.

The Curing Room tells the true story of seven NKVD officers who were imprisoned nude & possession less in the basement of a monastery in Nazi occupied Poland. It’s a tense, taut thriller, and not one for the kiddies. This is a play about human beings put in an incredible situation, dealing with it in a variety of real human ways.
The fantastic ensemble included Gus Schulenburg, James Comtois, Isaiah Tanenbaum, Stephen Heskett, David Crommett, Brian Silliman, Kristen Vaughan and Myself. The reading was directed by Pete Boisvert.

We packed the house down at the Source and found a very warm reception to this chilling material.

This is a play I believe in very strongly and hope will have a life in full production soon.

I will be performing with Spark and Echo Arts this Friday night, July 15th at 7:00 pm
@ Calvary/St. George’s Episcopal Church 277 Park Ave. South (at E. 21st St.).

We will be performing a new play Sing by Nick Stokes. It is a meditation on several verses from Psalm 22. The performance will be a part of Redeemer Presbyterian’s InterArts Fellowship: The Artist and Beauty. You can get more information about the evening and register for the event HERE. Registration is not required for attendance, but it is encouraged.

Please visit Spark and Echo Arts at their site: http://www.sparkandecho.org/