A New Home (TBA) to Set the Stage for Popular Arts Center

 By Sally Deering

Stepping inside Art House Productions†performance space behind One PATH Plaza in Jersey City, Meredith Burns tiptoes through rows of stage lights, piles of discarded scenery and the ghosts of plays, musicals, art exhibits and dress-up fundraisers that took place within its walls all these years. But the past is the past and Art House Productions is about to take up residence in a new space with Burns as its new executive director. Thereâ€s still lots to be done and some big shoes to fill.

Those shoes belong to Christine Goodman, who served as Executive Director of Art House since the non-profit first opened its doors 15 years ago on McWilliams place near Hamilton Park, then moved to bigger digs on Magnolia Street near Journal Square. As Art Houseâ€s executive director, Goodman – who is leaving to spend more time with family – directed most of Art Houseâ€s plays, oversaw the INKubator writers†workshop and STAGES! program for kids ‘bitten by the acting bug.â€

Changing of the guard:

Christine Goodman, Meredith Burns,

and a young fan.

 â€œMeredith is exactly the kind of visionary we need to bring us into this next phase of growth,” Goodman says. “Our Board of Trustees did a thoughtful, in-depth search to find the best fit for our organization, and I believe they found the right person. I have always believed in succession planning as a hallmark of an organization’s long-term success. It is truly an exciting new day at Art House.”

As the new Executive Director, Burns brings to the table her experience as both an actress and arts administrator. She holds a BFA in Acting from SUNY Purchase, and performs regularly in New York. Sheâ€s done several seasons of Shakespeare in Washington D.C. and belongs to a sketch comedy troupe in Manhattan.

Although plans are underway for Art House to move into its new space, Burns says the landlords of the new space are busy ironing out the details before making the formal announcement, so for now, Art Houseâ€s new residence is under wraps. Besides, thereâ€s still so much to do before the show goes on, so to speak.

During her busy first week on the job, Burns took a break to share her plans for Art House Productions future as a venue for theater, visual arts, music, spoken word, comedy, arts classes and, of course, those costumed-fundraisers that support the non-profitâ€s arts programming.

RVO:  Meredith, you just came on board last week; where were you before Art House?

MB:  Since 2013, I ran an after-school arts program at the New Voices Middle School in New York.

RVO:  Where did you grow up?

MB:  I was born and raised in Essex Fells, New Jersey a little town next to Montclair. My dad and mom grew up in The Heights in Jersey City. My grandmother went to Dickinson High School. I was coming here all the time as a kid. When my parents divorced, my dad moved back. He was a Jersey City firefighter.

RVO:  Youâ€re an actress as well as an arts administrator?

MB: Iâ€m on a sketch comedy team called The Executives out of the Magnet Theater on 29^th & 8^th Avenue in New York. I guess you would say Iâ€m a sketch comedienne. Itâ€s a great little team. We were on Monday nights and now weâ€re the weekend team. I only started doing comedy the past 2-3 years. Before this, I worked at Pregones Theater in The Bronx and the PR Traveling Theater Company in Manhattan. I was managing director and founding member of the Glass Bandits Theater Company in Brooklyn where we did living room readings and, out of that, produced new work.  I also worked at the Shakespeare Theater of D.C. It was a great experience, I learned a lot.

RVO:  As Art House Productions†new executive director, what are your long-term goals?

MB: My goal for Art House is to keep the lights on seven days a week. I love the theater. I love thereâ€s an art gallery. Iâ€d like to do more mixed-media, maybe a web-series, pilots, more comedy, more dance, spoken-word and poetry. The written-word is super important.

RVO:  Will you continue programs that Christine Goodman put in place?

Yes. We have the Inkubator series, a monthly writers†workshop where playwrights and screenwriters get together and read their work. I want to produce work that comes out of there. JC Fridays will continue and so will the annual Snow Ball fundraiser. In the spring weâ€re having a wine-tasting at Harborside, and an Octo-beer-fest. Our Stages! program for kids will also continue. Itâ€s on hold until we move into the new space.

 RVO: Can you share when you think Art House will be in its new home?

MB: Weâ€re hoping by April. The people running the space want to make the announcement.

RVO:  Has Christine been showing you the ropes for the transition of leadership?

MB: Christine is one of the most gracious people Iâ€ve ever met. She is excited for this organization. She understands it needs fresh eyes, new energies. Everything she built is sound. The programs she created are sound. Sheâ€s given me a blank canvas. This is the dream Iâ€ve always had.

RVO:  You dreamed of being an arts administrator?

MB: This is such a dream! When I was acting, I loved performing, but I needed to produce something. I like producing.

 RVO:  How will you let your audience know when the curtain goes up at the new space?

MB:  Weâ€ll keep everyone updated on the website (arthouseproductions.org). Weâ€ll probably have a “Welcome to the Neighborhood!” performance, show people what we can do.

RVO:  Thereâ€s seems to be a threat to end funding for the National Endowment looming like a storm cloud over the arts. As an artist and arts administrator, can you share why you think the arts are important?

MB:  Now more than ever, the arts connect us to humanity, and help us explore what it means to be a human being.

The post LEADING LADY Meredith Burns takes on the role of Art House Productions’ Executive Director first appeared on River View Observer.

JERSEY CITY, NJ, January 27, 2017 – Meredith Burns has been named Executive Director of Art House Productions effective February 13. A Jersey City resident and volunteer for Art House INKubator, Burns joins the organization from Brooklynâ€s New Voices Middle School, where she has led an arts-based, after-school program for 200+ children since 2013. She succeeds Christine Goodman, who is stepping down 15 years after founding the highly regarded nonprofit arts organization to spend more time with her family.

An actress whose performing career spans Off-Broadway, regional theater, stand-up and sketch comedy, as well as independent film, Burns also has deep experience leading nonprofit arts organizations with performance, education and community service missions. Before joining New Voices, Burns founded and served as managing director of Glass Bandits Theater Company in Brooklyn for five years. She received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in acting from the State University of New York in Purchase.

“Meredith brings a rich combination of skills and professional experience that will help us establish deeper and broader roots in Jersey City and serve the highly diverse needs of everyone who make Jersey City special,” said David Gibson, president of Art Houseâ€s Board of Trustees. “Having founded, secured funding for, and led community-based performing and arts-education organizations through varying levels of organizational maturity, Meredith is highly qualified to lead Art House and build on the solid foundation that Christine created.”

“Art House has held a special place in my heart since I moved to Jersey City,” Burns said. “Although much of my professional life has been in Brooklyn, I have enjoyed my volunteer work with INKubator immensely. When I considered the Boardâ€s offer to lead Art House, I realized it was an opportunity to bring together all aspects of my artistic, personal and professional lives, and Iâ€m excited to nurture and grow what Christine has so lovingly built.”

“I am incredibly proud of what we have achieved, and believe Meredith is the best person to shepherd Art House through its next phase of development,” Goodman said. “Art House began as an informal gathering of poets and Jersey City residents who used art and dialogue to help heal a devastated community. Through the dedication and support of hundreds of artists and many more volunteers, it has grown into a vibrant community focused on cultivating artists in Jersey City, showcasing visual and performing arts and creating greater understanding of one another.”

Goodman worked closely with Gibson, Art Houseâ€s Board and its Search Committee to identify a successor to lead the organization. Under her leadership, Art House matured, becoming a leading 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization with highly successful and expanding programs and budgets, funded by private corporate and public donations, sponsorships, and grants. Goodman founded Art House shortly after September 11, 2001, when as a young actress, artist, writer and community advocate she realized there were no dedicated performance venues for artists in Jersey City to meet one another and share work. 

About Art House Productions

Through accessible, multi-disciplinary initiatives, Art House Productions produces high-quality visual and performing arts programs, provides arts-education programs for life-long learning, and celebrates the power of the arts to illuminate our common humanity. Since its inception in 2001, Art House has influenced the advancement of the arts community and acted as a pioneering force for the arts in Jersey City. In 2007, Art House was incorporated as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and received a Key to the City for outstanding contributions to Jersey City.

Art House Productions is located at 136 Magnolia Avenue, Jersey City, NJ 07306.

CRYSTAL DAVIS
Assistant to the Executive Director, Art House Productions
——————————————-

Art House Productions

136 Magnolia Ave

Jersey City, NJ  07306
t. (201) 915-9911
w. www.arthouseproductions.org

DONATE TO THE ART HOUSE NOW CAMPAIGN!

Your support makes a difference!

http://bit.ly/AHdonate 

The post Art House Productions Names Meredith Burns Executive Director first appeared on River View Observer.

By Sally Deering

“A cursed bloodline. A family on the edge.  If this house could speak, what stories it would tell.”

 Thatâ€s the tagline for the new play THE HOUSE OF ATREUS which premieres Thursday, June 4, at Art House Productions in Jersey City. Itâ€s a collaborative work between Christine Goodman (Executive Director of Art House Productions) who wrote the piece, Mason Beggs, who directed, and choreographer Meagan Woods.

THE HOUSE OF ATREUS is an immersive and unconventional theater piece. Instead of putting the actors on stage and the audience in rows of seats to observe, the set takes up the entire theater with a chair and TV in one area, a broken down porch in another, and a dining room table at center. The audience enters through a haze of smoky fog and is encouraged to find a spot of their choosing to watch the play as it unfolds around them. This immerses the audience into the playâ€s action, which becomes part of the overall theater experience.

“The audience will be active observers,” Goodman says, sitting on set with Beggs and Woods during a break in tech rehearsal. “Weâ€re changing the audienceâ€s perspective.”

The playâ€s plot focuses on the main character Alan who returns home after serving in Iraq. He comes back only to find his house in ruins and his family broken and as war torn as the place he left behind.

“Itâ€s an exploration of family and the impact of war on family,” Goodman says. “At the heart, ‘The House of Atreus†is a cursed house and Alan has to manage the reality of this cursed home and piece together his family.”

THE PLAYâ€S THE THING

THE HOUSE OF ATREUS stars Amy Fulgham, Ema Lakovic, Gabby Gowdie, Adam Hassan, Quanda Johnson, and Adam Resnick as Alan, the war veteran returning home. He explains his character this way.

“Heâ€s a dutiful military man,” Resnick says. “He has a sense of belonging, but he has a few gaps in his family life.”

Throughout the play, music serves as an integral part of the action and at times, the lyrics of the songs by Shayfer James seem to represent the characters†inner-voices, things they want to say but canâ€t. .

“Shayferâ€s songs help with the tonality of the piece,” director Mason Beggs says. “”We knew of Shayfer and his music and it seemed like a good fit.”

Set Designer Andrea McKenna created the broken home Alan comes back to, and Lance A. Michel designed the playâ€s dreamlike lighting.

“The main structure of the play comes from the Greek trilogy ORESTEIA,” choreographer Meagan Woods says. “We put it in a contemporary setting and used the text and movement to develop the story.”

According to Wikipedia: “The ORESTEIA is a trilogy of Greek tragedies written by Aeschylus concerning the end of the curse on the House of Atreus. The ORESTEIA was originally performed at the Dionysia festival in Athens in 458 BC, where it won first prize. The name derives from the character Orestes, who sets out to avenge his fatherâ€s murder.”

“Iâ€ve always been drawn to Greek plays,” Goodman says. “Itâ€s because the Greek drama goes where a lot of plays donâ€t dare to go. They take it to extremes.”

 Is THE HOUSE OF ATREUS unconventional theater? Yes. And Goodman says this type of theater fits in with the companyâ€s artistic mission.

“The heart of Art House is theater,” Goodman says. “Weâ€re passionate about new theater and providing a platform for new works to be seen.”

IT WAS A VERY GOOD YEAR

 This past year was Art House Productionâ€s 14^th season, and on July 1^st it celebrates its first year in its new Journal Square location. During the year, the company presented an eclectic mix of theater and performance pieces including “Your Move,” New Jerseyâ€s Modern Dance Festival; FAME, JR. and THE WIZARD OF OZ which were part of Stages! Theater Company for Youth; IN FULL COLOR: Stories by Women of Color in celebration of Womenâ€s History Month; and No Peeking Theaterâ€s THE SHAPESHIFTER.

Art House served as the opening weekend host venue for the Black Maria Film Festival; and was a gallery stop on the Jersey City Artists†Studio Tour. The INKubator, a professional script and screenwriting development lab for writers, actors and directors meets at Art House, and it also offers acting classes and dance classes for kids and adults. With all that, executive director Goodman also finds the time to organize JC FRIDAYS, a festival of the arts that takes place throughout Jersey City.

“Itâ€s been a tremendous year in our new location,” Goodman says, “filled with growth and new possibilities.”

If you go

Thurs, Fri, Sat, June 4, 5, 6, 11, 12 & 13 at 8 pm; Sun, June 7 at 4 pm THE HOUSE OF ATREUS

Art House Productions

136 Magnolia Ave, JC

(201) 915-9911

http://www.arthouseproductions.org

TIX: http://atreus.brownpapertickets.com/

$18 ($20/door)

The post HOUSE OF SHARDS-Art House Productions “The House of Atreus” an American Vet Returns Home to More Casualties first appeared on River View Observer.

By Sally Deering

Like a phoenix rising from the ashes, Art House Productions grew from a post-9/11 open mic night on the top floor of a church, to a respected company of artists performing, exhibiting, teaching and building a creative presence in Jersey City. As Founder and Executive Director of Art House Productions, Christine Goodman oversees INKubator, a play-development program; STAGES, a youth theater program; .JC FRIDAYS, a quarterly arts event held in 50 venues throughout Jersey City; Snow Ball, the non-profitâ€s annual fundraiser and “THE ART HOUSE TV SHOW” featuring performances by poets, musicians, comedians and performance artists that airs weekly on Jersey City Comcast Channel 51. Goodmanâ€s efforts have been so successful the City of Jersey City gave her the Key to the City in 2007.

Art House Productions began its 13^th season this past September and its fall JC Fridays event was just held the first week of December. These days, Goodman is busy getting LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS, put on by Art House Productions†youth company ready for opening night while she plans the upcoming fundraiser Snow Ball to be held January 25^th.  She recently took time out of her busy schedule to talk with Riverview Observer about her role as Executive Director of Art House Productions and the many projects she and her staff oversees.

RVO: Can you tell our readers how Art House Productions came about?

CG: I founded it 2001in response to ‘9/11â€.  I wanted to have an event that brought people in Jersey City together that were artistic, I had no idea where to find them, so I held an ‘open mic†in late September 2001 and that was the first event. In January 2002, we launched our monthly open mic series at Victory Hall, connecting with writers and poets like Reg E. Gaines. (Reg E. Gaines, a Jersey City resident, wrote the libretto and lyrics for the Broadway musical BRING IN DA NOISE; BRING IN DA FUNK.)  And in 2007 we moved into our space on Hamilton Park.  It started with an open mic and a handful of people; now we have things happening year round and we serve over 16,000 people a year through our programs.

 RVO:  What is JC Fridays?

CG: JC Fridays is a city-wide arts festival that features artists in all artistic disciplines in venues across Jersey City. It happens four times a year – March, June, September and December – at the start of every season and it encourages local spending and is a wonderful catalyst for neighborhoods to pull together multiple venues as destinations for audiences to come out and explore their neighborhood. It builds participation in the arts city-wide, connects people within neighborhoods and supports local business. For us it was a natural fit. We come from an inter-disciplinary background, so to connect visual artists, galleries, theaters and restaurants, and bring people together that way, is at the core of what we do. Itâ€s been exciting to see the festival expand over the years, from 15 venues to 50.

RV: What is the annual Snow Ball?

CG: Thatâ€s our big fundraiser and it helps us raise a large portion of our operating budget for the year. (The next Snow Ball is Jan. 25, 2014.)  Itâ€s an important event and a really fun one. What makes it such an experience is that itâ€s a celebration of the artistic spirit while raising funds and its ‘black tie-creativeâ€. People come in costumes, vintage, their old wedding dress or what they wore to prom if they can still fit into it. Weâ€ll have live Bossa Nova music by the Jersey City-based group “Vespertine” and multiple restaurants will be serving food, wine, beer and dessert. Itâ€s an all-inclusive ticket ($80) and when tickets go on sale in mid-December they can be purchased by going to the website: www.arthouseproductions.org.  

RVO:  How big is Art House Productions†staff?

CG: We have an amazing technical director and lightning designer Lance Michel, and our production coordinator Shimeon Nandlal. Thatâ€s really the core team that brings our in-house projects to life.

RVO:  Is your space at One McWilliams Place a permanent or temporary home?

CG: Where we are now has always been a temporary facility. Weâ€re committed to being a part of Jersey Cityâ€s cultural scene for the foreseeable future and would love to find a permanent home. Weâ€re a very active organization and thereâ€s a lot of need for our organization to find adequate space. As we know, across the city thereâ€s a lack of space generally for the arts to present programs on a city-wide level.  

 RVO: What are you working on now?

CG:  On Dec. 12^th we open LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS. We have 32 youths in our STAGES company, a semester-long program for 4^th to 12^th graders that meets after school twice a week and puts on two musicals a year. We also just produced an international modern dance festival with 21 companies from across the country and across the world. It was amazing.

 RVO: How can an artist get involved with Art House Productions?

CG: We recommend they join our email list. When we do group shows, we have calls for art.  For our plays, we hold auditions and those can be found in the trades like “Backstage” or our Facebook page, which is www.facebook.com/njarthouse.

 For more info, go to: www.arthouseproductions.org.

Contact: info@arthouseproductions.org.

The post Behind the Scenes at Art House Productions Executive Director Christine Goodman gives Artists a Place to Shine first appeared on River View Observer.

Bill Sorvino – A Dream of a Film Festival

by Sally Deering

 Ideas sometimes come to us in dreams and that’s exactly how Bill Sorvino conceived the Golden Door International Film Festival to be held in Jersey City in October. What started as images flickering in his sleeping mind will now be images flickering on the silver screen.

 “I had a dream last year about having a film festival in Jersey City,” Sorvino says,” and it was like lightning in a bottle. Jersey City is close to my heart. I grew up here and my family has a 100-year history here. I want Jersey City to have something in its own right.”

 

Dreaming of a film festival is not much of a stretch for Sorvino. He’s a screenwriter and actor who studied at the William Esper Studios in New York City and has appeared in several indie films. He also hails from a theatrical family – his uncle is celebrated actor Paul Sorvino and he’s cousin to Academy Award winner Mira Sorvino – and throughout the years Bill Sorvino shared conversations with his Uncle Paul and cousin Mira about film, theater and acting held during family gatherings at the dinner table.  

“My uncle had a farm in Pennsylvania and I would go and hang out and we would eat and talk,” Bill Sorvino says. “One weekend, Mira, my Uncle Paul and Mira’s husband were at his house down the shore and my uncle was holding an (impromptu) class on acting. We were sitting there mesmerized by his depth of knowledge.”

 Not everyone who comes from Jersey City wants to come back and shine a light on the talent here. Usually star-struck wannabees head to Los Angeles and carve their niche there. But Sorvino’s different – his passion for Jersey City and the place where he grew up and his love for film and theater and his uncle Paul and cousin Mira are key factors to his dream. Sorvino and his Uncle Paul are very close – and it’s quite likely festival-goers in October will get a chance to see Paul Sorvino at the festival’s closing night gala at Loew’s Jersey City, the restored movie palace in Journal Square and one of the venues for the festival’s screenings.

The Golden Door International Film Festival will take Jersey City by storm from Oct 13^th through October 16^th – where four local venues will unroll the red carpet to film stars, celebrities and film-goers screening films by local and international filmmakers. It’s a juried competition with awards given out in ten categories including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor/Actress and Best Cinematographer. Still in the preliminary stages – the venues have been chosen and film submissions are pouring in and Sorvino, who grew up in downtown Jersey City and attended Hudson Catholic high school and St. Peter’s College, wants to encourage local filmmakers to submit their films. Comedies, dramas, documentaries, animations and short films are welcome as are student films.

Filmmakers can submit their films to the Golden Door International Film Festival by going to the website www.withoutabox.com an online submission system for film festival and screenplay competitions. Film Festival directors like Sorvino use the website to manage their festivals and for filmmakers it’s the go-to-place to enter the festival, upload their films and PayPal their entry fee. (Deadline for submissions to the Golden Door International Film Festival is July 1, 2011; entry fee is $50.)

“Everyone goes to withoutabox.com if you are going to put on a festival or submit to a festival,” Sorvino says. “They do the money transactions and post the checklist of submission requirements. It makes it easier to screen the films, too.”

 Festival Highlights

The Golden Door International Film Festival will screen film submissions in Jersey City at the beautifully restored Loew’s Jersey City movie palace in Journal Square; Michael Anthony’s restaurant on the waterfront; LITM restaurant, a hip bistro on Newark Avenue; and Bar Majestic, a cozy gathering place across the street from City Hall on Grove Street.

“Another thing I’ve really come to love about planning the film festival is getting to meet the owners of these places,” Sorvino says. “These owners want to create a better sense of community and have an artistic insight.”

So far, Sorvino has received submissions from all over the globe including South Africa, India, Austria and England and several from local filmmakers. Although the roster of films that will be screened hasn’t been chosen yet (filmmakers will be notified Aug 1^st) several submissions have caught Sorvino’s eye including “Street Corner Harmony” a documentary by Abraham Santiago and Steven Dunham about Doo-Wop groups of the 1950s narrated by record producer Wayne Stierle; and “Night Club” a film by San Borowski starring Ernest Borgnine, Mickey Rooney, Lance Howard and Clint Howard (Ron Howard’s father and brother,) Sally Kellerman (‘Hot Lips’ in the film “M.A.S.H”) and Bill Sorvino’s uncle Paul Sorvino.

Members of Jersey City’s arts community are also joining in to support the festival. At the closing night gala at Loew’s Jersey City a panel of judges, including John Dapolito of Jersey City, who teaches acting and script analysis in New York, will give out awards. Members of the Golden Door International Film Festival’s Board of Advisors will also be on hand including Christine Goodman, Founder/Director of Art House Productions in Jersey City; Eileen Gaughan, administrative aide for the Hudson County Office of Cultural & Heritage Affairs; and Joseph Calamito, publisher of the Riverview Observer newspaper and website.

 “I’m holding it in Jersey City, because for me, when I was growing up here downtown was terrible,” Sorvino says, “and in 2007, I came back and saw the changes. It’s amazing what can happen when there’s group effort, community pride and positive energy moving forward. You have a vibrant artist community in Jersey City, great bars and restaurants. It’s like a little Manhattan. I want to make movies here. I tell everybody I know in the business, we have to look at Jersey City as a location to make films.”

To Sorvino, Jersey City could easily become the new go-to destination for filmmakers on the East Coast. All it takes is a festival and a dream.

Submit your Film

Golden Door Film Festival

Film Submissions:  Go to www.withoutabox.com  or  www.goldendoorfilmfestival.com

Deadline:  July 1, 2011

Fee for Submission:  $50

Notification:  Filmmakers will be notified Aug 1, 2011 if their films have been accepted to the competition

The post Golden Door International Film Festival Director Invites Filmmakers to Screen Their Dreams in Jersey City first appeared on River View Observer.