Alexander Rea

Read the NYT Article on The Zipper's Closing

Above The Belt, an aerial showcase that I’ve helped Britt Nhi Sarah produce got it’s start in The Belt Theatre.  The Belt was a small cabaret space next to the Zipper Theatre and both were part of the venue known to most as The Zipper Factory.  Opened in 2001 it was home to such productions as “The Sensuous Woman” by Margaret Cho, “Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living in Paris,” “Jesus Is Magic” by Sarah Silverman, “Betty Rules” and Alan Cumming’s adaptation of Jean Genet’s “Elle.” The website is still live.  An eerie reminder of a great place.

Above The Belt started in the Belt space and moved next door when the Belt was turned over into the Tavern.  The grid and stage area remained and we staged what would become ourlast show to a packed house on December 18, 2009.  Suddenly, on January 14th 2009, the theatre abruptly closed.  No one saw it coming.  Not the managers, staff and least of all any of the acts including us. (Read the NYT article here)

Nine months later I was walking by coincidently enough with Britt Nhi.  We had just come from a nearby space where we were shopping the show and I noticed workers coming out pushing large demolition dumpsters.  I walked up and asked if the space was open.  They said yes and we walked in.  Below are photos of what we saw.  The entire space gutted.  Stripped clean down to the bone.  What was once one of the most unique theatre space I had ever seen in this country was now all but a memory.  I only wish I had as many photos of the place when it was alive.  I wish I knew where all of the well curated artifacts that littered the place are now.  And where did all the car seats go?  Warning, these photos may be shocking to some.

(p.s. If you have photos of theatre space, especially the lounge/bar area, please email them to me)

The Zipper Factory (2001- January 14, 2009)

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I have the pleasure of being co-producer on Rated RSO, a sold out one-night only event tonight at Joe’s Pub.

After two sold out shows in Los Angeles, RATED RSO: The Music and Lyrics of Ryan Scott Oliver will receive its New York premiere tonight!

Presently portraying the sexy schoolteachers, provocative rent-boys, and obsessive homicidal teenagers of Oliver’s works will be Broadway talents Alex Brightman (Wicked, Glory Days), Morgan Karr (Spring Awakening), Natalie Weiss (Wicked), Jay Johnson (Hair, A Chorus Line), and Lindsay Mendez (Grease, Everyday Rapture), with Geoff Kidwell, Mat Burrow, Lyle Mackston, Katie Gassert, Cait Doyle, Grace Wall, and introducing Jennifer DeRosa.

Travis Greisler directs the evening, which will include several of Oliver’s better-known tunes, including “Lost Boy,” “Out of My Mind,” “When Lily Came,” “Never” and “Mrs. Sharp.”  Showtime is at 11:30pm and at the time of this posting, the show is sold-out.

Become a fan of the show on Facebook

Ryan Scott Oliver is a 2009 Jonathan Larson Grant recipient and wrote the music and lyrics for Mrs. Sharp (2008 Richard Rodgers Award Winner, formerly Alive at Ten), Darling (Pace New Musicals 2009), the song cycle Out of My Head, music for Angus Oblong’s The Debbies and music and co-lyrics for the hit YouTube TV show The Battery’s Down.  His work has been presented in showcases including the Disney/ASCAP Musical Theatre Workshop, Goodspeed Musicals, William Finn & Barrington Stages, The York Theatre, Monday Nights New Voices, the Festival of New American Musicals in Los Angeles, and most recently The Ryan Scott Oliver Project conceived by Philly Music Theatre Works.  He is a Dramatists Guild Fellow, and the recipient of numerous awards including the first-ever ASCAP Foundation Harold Adamson Award for Excellence in Lyric Writing.  Currently he is working on an untitled show for TheatreworksUSA which will open off-Broadway in 2010.  B.A. Music Composition, UCLA; M.F.A. Musical Theatre Writing, NYU-Tisch, a proud member of A.S.C.A.P.