NYC Dems Vote Tuesday - Support Liu & De Blasio

Tomorrow, New York City Democrats should go to the polls to vote in two contested elections: Comptroller & Public Advocate.

In the race for Comptroller, I’m voting for Councilman John Liu. He's progressive and damn smart. He majored in Mathematical Physics and spent years working in finance at PriceWaterhouseCoopers. He knows how to handle the city's money. Liu has been a real leader in the City Council, constantly standing up for what's right regardless of political consequences. He has also lived the classic New York immigrant experience and if elected would be the first Asian American to hold a citywide office.

Check out his short YouTube documentary on John.

In the race for Public Advocate, the clear choice is Bill de Blasio. Bill has run a strong, impressive campaign. Taking down the former front-runner Mark Green, who ran a campaign based exclusively on name recognition. He didn't bother to show up to debate, after debate. Green's campaign is largely funded by real estate and his interest in Public Advocate stems from his never-ending desire to be elected Mayor. Bill is forward looking and seeks to take the office in a new direction. I'm happy to support him in this race.

Check out Bill's runoff ad here to see the wide range of endorsements he's received.

Find your polling location here.

Both Liu & De Blasio have also been endorsed by Brooklyn's Lambda Independent Democrats, where I currently sit on the Executive Board.

Street Lights @ NYMF Press Conference

On Tuesday NYMF had its annual press conference at New World Stages and Street Lights was there. Kevin Curtis performed the song Georgetown and got some buzz going.

Time Out NY critic Adam Feldman raved: "Thumbs Up - 'Georgetown' from Street Lights: A solid song about an aspiring young lawyer-to-be from the projects, with several smart, surprising rhymes ("impartial/Thurgood Marshall”) and a knockout delivery by star-to-be Kevin Curtis."

WNET's Theater Talk Tweeted that Kevin's performance was the highlight of the preview and to watch out for his name.

We don't have any video from the actual press conference yet, although NY1 & Broadway.TV both filmed it. But, you can see Kevin perform Georgetown at an earlier concert version of Street Lights.

Get your tickets for the NYC production here.

Photo by Michael Portantiere for Broadway Stars.

The Street Lights Set

We're performing Street Lights at the American Theatre of Actors (ATA) on 54th Street, a unique space where Urinetown and Bare premiered Off-Broadway. The stage has a U-shaped catwalk surrounding it, that's totally perfect for our urban setting.

Hilary Noxon's design smartly incorporates all the elements in the space. I love the focus on the windows. Above is the concept sketch from earlier in the process and below is the brand new 1/2" model. Our lighting designer, Brian Tovar, is putting these little lights in a handful of windows so they'll really pop. It should look awesome.

Tickets are on-sale and selling well, and you can get yours at our official website.

ACLU Settles With O.C. School District

This spring I blogged extensively on Corona del Mar High School's censorship of the musical RENT. As it turned out, it wasn't just musicals they were censoring - there was an atmosphere of hate and fear throughout the school.

The ACLU went after the district for failing to protect a young girl from violent threats. They finally put the school district on the defensive. From yesterday's LA Times:

An Orange County school district where varsity athletes threatened to rape and kill the lead actress in a student production of the musical "Rent" has agreed to provide harassment and discrimination prevention training to Corona del Mar High School students, teachers and administrators and other district officials, according to a legal settlement announced Wednesday. The Newport-Mesa Unified School District will also apologize to the former student.

I wish they'd have been able to fire their Principal, Fal Asrani, who seemed completely uninterested in protecting her students. Fal herself is one of the bigots that needs discrimination prevention training.

Update: Fal Asrani has been replaced as principal.

Please Support My New Show, Street Lights

I've been hard at work developing Street Lights, a new musical that I'm directing & co-producing at the 2009 New York Musical Theatre Festival. It's a pretty big deal and I'm really excited about it. But, I won't be able to do it without your help.

Street Lights centers on a group of young people who come together to make their community better. It's themes were inspired by Barack Obama's historic Presidential Campaign. (Seriously, read about it on The Huffington Post.) In that spirit, we'd like to raise our production budget like Obama, small donations from many people.

This is a fully not-for-profit production, and we cannot bring it to life without the support of our friends & family. You can be a part of Street Light's history by making a tax deductible contribution today. No amount is too small (or too big!), $10 or $20 brings us that much closer to raising the curtain.

To donate with credit card (truly tax deducible), visit:

https://www.nymf.org/donatetostreetlights

Wanna send a check? E-mail me.

Tickets are now on-sale and we open on October 13th in New York. For more information, visit the Street Lights website.

In these difficult times, we need art that inspires and brings hope. A contribution from you can go a long way to making that happen. Thank you so much for all your support.

Photo by Cassie Corrigan, from Street Lights For Obama benefit at The Zipper Theater.

Where I Stand on Health Insurance Reform

There is a lot of anger from the left about what's being seen as Obama capitulating to the Republicans on Health Insurance Reform. During the campaign Obama favored a Public Option. Now, the Public Option appears in danger and many liberals don't think "real" reform is possible without it.

In a perfect world, I'm for the most progressive health reform possible. But, our world is far from perfect and politics is the art of the possible. There are 47 million people in America without health insurance and they don't care if it's a public or private option that provides it. They just want access to quality health care.

A few days ago Matthew Yglesias wrote where he stood on health care and I found myself agreeing with him.

— In terms of the present-day political debate, I think mandate-regulate-subsidize plus a public option would be a major improvement over the status quo.

— But even though mandate-regulate-subsidize without a public option wouldn’t be as good, I still think it would be an improvement over the status quo.

— I don’t think reform advocates should “drop” the public option; I think they should fight for it and try to bring practical pressure to bear on members of the Senate to vote for one.

— But if in the final standoff we get a choice between mandate-regulate-subsidize and the status quo, I would prefer to take mandate-regulate-subsidize.

In summer 2003, I moved to Burlington, Vermont to join Howard Dean's Presidential Campaign. One of Dean's main draws for me, besides his brave stance on the Iraq War, was his success at providing near-universal health insurance to Vermont's residents. He did this without a Public Option.

In fact, Ezra Klein recently pointed out that Dean, considered one of the most liberal candidates in the '04 primary, didn't have a Public Option or co-ops in his national '04 platform.

Dean's plan would have insured millions fewer people than the bills being considered in the House or the bill that we think we'll see out of the Senate.
...
For all that, it was a good and well-meaning plan. But it was a lot worse than what we're considering now. It was a lot worse even than the compromises we're considering now.

I admire the liberals in the House who say they won't vote for a bill that doesn't contain a Public Option, but I hope in the end they put a reform bill on Obama's desk to sign. As Paul Starr says in the current issue of American Prospect, "if any of them actually do vote against the final bill and prevent it from passing because it fails to offer a public option, they will help to ruin the best chance in years to put health care on a path toward reform."

Crossposted on The Huffington Post

The Hill: Big Question

I'm now part of The Hill's Big Question section, where they ask their pundits for opinions on topics throughout the week.

Friday's Big Question was: "What should President Obama be more concerned about: Passing healthcare reform, or improving the economy?"

My response:

It’s disingenuous to suggest that Obama can seriously improve the economy without real health care reform. Heath Care spending represents 17% of America’s GDP and that number is forecasted to grow to 20% by 2017. Too much of this money comes out of the pockets of individuals and small businesses. Anyone serious about trying to fix the economy in a long-term way has to look to serious health care reform as a major part of the solution.

Street Lights - Casting At NYMF

We're casting Street Lights at the 2009 New York Musical Theatre Festival! All of the details below, hope to see some of you at the auditions.

STREET LIGHTS: A NEW HIP-HOP MUSICAL Auditions
New York Musical Theatre Festival 2009, AEA/non-AEA
NEW YORK, NY

Director: Ryan J. Davis
Music & Lyrics: Joe Drymala
Book: Joe Drymala & Akin Salawu
Musical Director: Sonny Paladino
Choreographer: Todd Underwood

Casting: Daryl Eisenberg, CSA
Auditions (by appt): Aug 18-19
Rehearses: Sept 13-Oct 13

Performs: 10/13 @ 8pm, 10/14 @ 8pm,
10/16 @ 7pm, 10/17 at 1&5pm,
10/18 @ 1pm

EPA: Tuesday Aug 18 - Sign In at 9 am - Ripley Grier – 520 8th Ave – Studio 10A. Please prepare 32 bars of R&B or Gospel music. Bring sheet music. An accompanist will be provided.

EMAIL: streetlights@decasting.com
(Subject: STREET LIGHTS Casting)

MAIL PIC/RES TO:
DARYL EISENBERG CASTING
180 WEST END AVE, SUITE 17G
NEW YORK, NY 10023
ATTN: STREET LIGHTS CASTING

SYNOPSIS: Monique is going to be the next Alicia Keys. Her brother is on track to be
bigger than Thurgood Marshall. But none of this matters when their world is filled with
violence, apathy, and broken promises. Can they keep faith when there’s no reason for
hope? From writer/composer Joe Drymala and director Ryan J. Davis, the creators of the
Broadway-bound 2006 NYMF hit White Noise, comes Street Lights, mixing pop, R&B
and hip-hop to crank up the volume on the voice of a new generation saying yes, we can.

SEEKING:

[ MONIQUE WILLIS ] 17 y.o. female, African American, high school senior, singer
and piano player.

[ ROCKY WILLIS ] 18 y.o. male, high school senior, African American. Monique’s
bookish brother. Tenor. CAST.

[ DAMON CRUZ ] Early 20s male, Puerto Rican. Handsome & Confident. A little bit
dangerous. Tenor/Reggaeton singer.

[ TANK ] Late 20s-early 30s male. Long time dealer, DAMON’s right hand man.
Intimidating African-American or Latino.

[ X.RAY (RAYMOND) HOBBES ] 18 y.o. male, high school senior African American.
Raps, sings backup. Charismatic. A dynamic and political DJ and performance artist.
Rocky’s best friend. Must be comfortable with rap/spoken word performance.

[ REGINA CRUZ ] 15 y.o. female, high school freshman, Puerto Rican. Raps, sings
alto. Damon’s younger sister.

[ MRS. WILLIS ] Late 50s female, African American. Alto. Old school soul singer
sound. Grandmother to Monique and Rocky, and a pillar of the community.

[ CAROL ARMSTRONG ] Elderly woman, African American. MONIQUE’s long-
time piano teacher.

[ENSEMBLE] 20s-40s African American or Latino male and female. Must have a
background in hip hop, pop, and contemporary dance styles. Strong singers. PLEASE
SUBMIT NON-EQUITY.

For more information, visit
www.streetlightsmusical.com

The Disgraceful Mr. Dobbs

Pressure is building for CNN to do something about their resident conspiracy-theorist-in-chief Lou Dobbs. His nightly "reporting" on Obama's birth certificate drew fire today from the Southern Poverty Law Center, which called on CNN to take Dobbs off the air for "fanning the flames of racism." None of this should be surprising; for years, Dobbs has used his program to spread misinformation and paranoia.

In 2006, Dobbs ran several segments on the Amero, an imaginary currency that he believes will be shared by North America and replace the U.S. dollar. That same year he called for a new Sept. 11 investigation, vaguely citing the many "9/11 lies" told to Americans. Another favorite myth Dobbs reported on in 2008 is the NAFTA Superhighway, which (according to Lou's reporting) would extend from Mexico to Canada. None of these stories had a factual basis, and CNN repeatedly failed to exercise any editorial judgment.

Lou Dobbs has even appeared as a guest on leading Sept. 11 Truther and "Birther" Alex Jones's radio program and was sympathetic to Alex's rants. Knowing Lou, he probably believes the pressure to fire him is coming from the Illuminati and the New World Order. CNN needs to move quickly and remove Dobbs from their lineup to prevent further embarrassment. It's been a long time coming.

Originally posted on The Hill's Pundit Blog. Crossposted on The Huffington Post.

OnStage - Ruined, The Temperamentals, and Jeffery & Cole: Make It Bigger

The New York City stage is packed this summer and the three Off-Broadway productions I'm recommending, Ruined, The Temperamentals, and Jeffery & Cole: Make It Bigger, all represent the wonderful diversity of offerings currently available to theatergoers.

Ruined, which won the Pulitzer Prize this year, is the story of Mama Nadi, a women who owns a brothel in the middle of a civil war in the Congo. Loosely inspired by Brecht's Mother Courage, Ruined offers us a glimpse into the lives of these women as they struggle to survive. It's one powerful story.

The script feels authentic and was carefully researched and developed by interviewing women who live in the region under these deplorable conditions. The production has been running for months at Manhattan Theatre Club, but is still fresh, vital, and beautifully performed.

I'd be shocked if Ruined doesn't get a shot at Broadway soon.

Playing until August 23rd, The Temperamentals is the true story of the creation of American's first gay rights group. Staged both simply & beautifully in the intimate Barrow Group Theater, you feel as if you're a part of their early organizing - both victories & defeats. The entire cast is fabulous; lead with strength by Thomas Jay Ryan and Ugly Betty's Michael Urie.

Harry Hay, the founder of The Temperamentals, wasn't as known to me as Stonewall or Harvey Milk, but he's courageous and intelligent. Anyone currently involved in the fight for gay equality (and who believe it has to do with way more than marriage) will find lots to like in Hay's philosophies. He's no fan of total gay assimilation, and would question the value in the current pursuit of a strictly heteronormative agenda.

In fact, shortly before his death (at the age of 90) in 2002 Hay said, "The assimilationist movement is running us into the ground." Amen brother.

For big laughs, with zero assimilation, head downtown to Earl Dax's Hot! Festival. Queer performers have taken over the uber-trendy Dixon Place. Two of those performers are my good friends Jeffery Self and Cole Escola, extremely funny guys who have scored quite a hit with their current Logo TV show Jeffery & Cole Casserole.

Jeffery & Cole's Hot! Festival offering, 'Make It Bigger,' is loosely based on their story, from YouTube to the boob tube. Wonderfully raunchy and politically incorrect their rise to fame story has lots of familiar elements and big laughs. You can see their final performance on Thursday night.

--
Ryan is a freelance theater director, who is currently directing Vote! at FringeNYC and Street Lights at NYMF. His musical White Noise recently premiered regionally in New Orleans. Read his blog here.

Published on The Huffington Post.

Summer of Theatre '09

July has been a very busy month for me! I've been lax on blogging, but I'm always updating my Twitter feed.

Over the weekend of July 17th, I had a great run at the 10th Annual Midtown International Theater Festival with my friend writer/actor Michael Hirstreet's short-solo play My Broken Brain. He got a great audience response and is looking into other venues to continue developing the script.

The show I created in 2006, White Noise, received it's first regional production in New Orleans this month. It was a huge production, with a $2.2 million dollar budget, and was well-received by the local critics. Their main paper, The Times-Picayune, called it "Powerful." The production closed yesterday and they'd still like to open it on Broadway.

Most of the drama in New Orleans was off-stage. As reported by Michael Riedel in the New York Post, White Noise's "co-director" and producer has issues.

Mitchell Maxwell, another flop king, is causing such strife that he's been banned from his own show, the Broadway-bound musical "White Noise." The volatile producer verbally abused his creative team, frightened his actors and threw such a temper tantrum in the lobby of the Omni Hotel that terrified guests called the police, several production sources told The Post. "I have never experienced anything this crazy in my life," one member of the creative team says. "He is not a stable man."

Don't miss any of the details, it's crazy. The stuff they couldn't print will probably make it into a screenplay of mine someday.

I've been in rehearsals for the musical comedy Vote! at FringeNYC. It's going REALLY well. As I've mentioned before, we have an incredible cast.

I took this picture yesterday on my iPhone at a music brush-up.

Tickets just went on-sale. They are just $15. That's the best deal in New York. Buy yours now, we open on August 14th and they are selling fast.

We're in pre-production for Street Lights, which was invited to the New York Musical Theatre Festival this year. White Noise got it's start at NYMF and we're excited to return to the festival. We open on October 14th, more details soon.

I'll try to keep up with the blog more. Hope to see you all at Vote!