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)

Last night at The Tank, our show Above The Belt performed for the seventh time since I teamed up with Britt Nhi Sarah to produce it.  It was a great success.  We sold out and unfortunately had to turn people away. I apologize now if you are one of those people turned away.  Please contact me and I’ll make sure you get into the next show at The Tank on August 16th. Below are a few photos from behind the scenes that I took.  Stay tuned for much better photos at the shows website by Jan Meissner.  Please visit our website and learn more about the great artists we have had the pleasure of featuring.

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.

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Above The Belt, the monthly aerial show that I am producing with Britt Nhi Sarah is back. After losing our monthly residency when the late great Zipper closed we’ve taken the show on the road.

Next up, March 26th at the Bleecker Street Theatre!  45 Bleekcer St., NYC. Map

Showtime is 8:00pm.  Ticket’s are $25 and can be purchased at the door or online at Telecharge.

Above the Belt is an aerial showcase that has been dazzling New York audiences for the past three years. It is committed to the city’s reputation as the most innovative stage on earth and every show is new and fresh with a constantly evolving line-up of the most essential aerial artists.

Learn more about Above The Belt at our website.

Originally posted on Fresh Ideas 365

Alexander here.  Interactive Director for The Concept Farm.  Before I post any official reviews of Griffin Stenger (Partner) and my time here in Austin at SXSW Interactive, I wanted to post a quick little pre-review. I like to watch people.  Living in New York City it’s really easy.  Riding the subway you are forced to.  It’s a way of life.  Here in Austin I’ve been doing much of the same.  Since Friday I have been observing how many of the thousands of the attendants have iPhones and then how many have Apple laptops and any combination there of.  I would say at least 60% of the attendants have both.  And on these iPhones we have all been loading up all of the schedules and tweeting about this that and the other.  The only downside, AT&T’s infrastructure simply can not handle all of the iPhone data concentrated in one area.  So at one of the most important Interactive conferences in this country, the users of a device (argumentatively the most popular device) can not fully benefit from the very services being championed.  You have to wait until late at night before you can expect any true activity or be in the convention center on the free WiFi.  And even that shows signs of heavy load.

These above images are from today’s keynote in one of the three larger rooms.  Virginia Herrfernan of the New York Times interviews James Powderly of FATlab and Graffiti Research Lab (GRL).  Click to enlarge.

Regardless of the individual attendant’s gear of choice, that gear runs on good old American electricity.  One of greatest faults of this convention (and really there are not many) is that there is no convenient source of power.  All of the outlets run along the floor.  Every panel room regardless of size is surprisingly short on outlets.  Don’t you think that the organizers of the event would have coordinated with the Freeman union controlled convention center to install power strips?  The results are obvious.  You enter each panel room and everyone is huddled along the walls.  Death traps by laptop cords.  Between events you find people by the droves forced to camp out on the floor as if their flights were delayed at a crowded airport.

Surprisingly Apple does not participate in conventions like this.  Despite the large percentage of people that would enlist immediately in an Apple army if one existed.  Those companies, authors and aritsts that have been conducting panels or signings have really been inspiration to many.   When my tour of duty expires on Wednesday, I’ll have the chance to go through the pages of notes, business cards, tweets, scratches, scribblings and memories and post something slightly more helpful here on 365.

Tomorow afternoons final keynote of SXSW Interactive will be the long-awaited Guy Kawasaki (Alltop) interview of Chris Anderson (Wired) on the power of free.

There is no way to post this without sounding like I am plugging MTV Networks’ Comedy Central so here goes. Tonight, on my way to SXSW I was able to catch The Daily Show (the photo shows everyone in my view also watching). For those that don’t regularly follow the show, tonight was the long awaited episode when Jon Stewart would face Jim Cramer of CNBC. Ending or potentially fueling the recent widely publicized fued (Google that). Jon rails into Jim on how Jim and those like him admit to knowing how the market can be cheated and where the holes in SEC regulations exist however they do nothing to stop it. Plug the holes over the last ten years that have caused the market free fall we are now experiencing. Jon suggests that perhaps Jim should go back to reporting financial news so John can go back to fart jokes.

I won’t profess to knowing about the markets. We at The Concept Farm are not and should not be regarded in whole as financial experts. So there will be no further exposition on a point of view. Just please watch the entire intetview.

And during the closing credits they show a clip from Jim on Martha Stewart (earlier in the day). Martha says “Jim does what Twitter does”. Alexander Rea from The Concept Farm asks “WTF!?”.

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Above The Belt, the monthly aerial show that I am producing with Britt Nhi Sarah, has it’s fourth and final showcase of our Fall 2008 season this coming Sunday, December 14th, 7pm at The Zipper Factory. Next door in the Tavern.

New 2009 Winter/Spring season dates:

Sunday, February 8th at 7pm
Sunday, March 8th at 7pm
Sunday, April 5th at 7pm
Sunday, May 3rd at 7pm

Above the Belt is an aerial showcase that has been dazzling New York audiences for the past three years. It is committed to the city’s reputation as the most innovative stage on earth and every show is new and fresh with a constantly evolving line-up of the most essential aerial artists.

Learn more about Above The Belt at our website.

The aerial show that I am producing with Britt Nhi Sarah has it’s third showcase this coming Sunday, November 2nd, 7PM at The Zipper Factory.

Above the Belt is an aerial showcase that has been dazzling New York audiences for the past three years. It is committed to the city’s reputation as the most innovative stage on earth and every show is new and fresh with a constantly evolving line-up of the most essential aerial artists.

Learn more about Above The Belt at our website.