As of this past Sunday, Rising Sun Performance Company completed our most ambitious project yet. Hotel Suite was a site specific theatre piece performed at Hostelling International at 103rd and Amsterdam in the Upper West Side. With most of experimental theatre and Rising Sun's pieces occurring in lower Manhattan, we ventured uptown to find the perfect venue for our project: three full length productions sharing a single hotel room. Our endeavor was no easy task, and it took support from an amazing network of people to make this happen. Here's a few of the factors that went into this project and the folks who made the pieces fall in place.
1. Dramatists Play Service- This company owns the rights to Bug, a show that Akia has wanted to direct for several years. Finally, this past year Dramatists issued Rising Sun the rights to be the first off-off-Broadway company in NYC to produce BUG.
2. Our Company- We have an amazing company this year. Everyone from the Rising Sun staff, the actors, the interns, and our other key support members are what made Hotel Suite deliver a set of awesome shows to the NY theatre community.
3. Our Donors- This project was ambitious in several ways, one of which was finances. We are a small grassroots theatre company with little in the way for budget. Our indie gogo campaign raised over $5000 to be our most successful fundraising campaign ever!
4. Hostelling International- Location, location, location. This was one of our biggest hurdles in producing Hotel Suite: finding a location that fit our needs willing to host us for over a month. Hostelling International gladly took us in, promoted and supported the show, and let us completely rent out a performance space and dressing area for a month. Believe me in NYC that is extremely rare!
5. Our Playwrights- Yes, yes, Tracy Letts and Sam Shepard are amazing, but what about the six playwrights who wrote the one acts featured in Room 128? These guys were chosen from tons of entries for one act plays set in hotel rooms. The entire company was involved in the selection process, and our final product was a diverse set of plays ranging from seductive donuts and raging Elizabethans to a not so happy ex-wife and a kooky clown and bellhop.
6. The New York Theatre Community- Rising Sun is supported by a huge network of theatre groups including but not limited to: Horse Trade Theatre Group, NY Innovative Theatre Awards, The Field, Fractured Atlas, NYFA, and Materials For The Arts.
SO...thanks to all of these people we did it! We did cancel a few shows, but we were able to add a couple additional performances for those patrons who missed the show due to Sandy.
Finally...here is the list of donors!!! Thanks to everyone for making this dream a reality!
Anonymous X 10, Aaron Balaster, Alison Berry, Andrea Alton, Andrea Wachter, Anna Gorman, Ashleigh Herndon, Becky Rygg, Bill Sharp, Billy Stephens, Blake Matzen, Charissa Jones, Colin Lewellyn, Dana Martin, Darsell Brittingham, Deborah Wolfson, Denie Roche, Dennis & Donna DeSimone, Dennis M Moore, Diana Byrne, Donna, Donnetta Grays, EJ Assi, Elena Naskova, Elizabeth Burke, Emily Elam, Giovanna Fasolino, Henri Socha, Holli Handlogten, Hubley, Jacquelyn Rocha, Jamie Cummings Jason Le Master, Jason Tyne-Zimmerman, Jchoos, Jeffrey Keenan, Jena McRae, Jessica Bhargava, Jim and Barb Aguirre, John K. Hart, Jorel VanOs, Josh Hyman, Josh M Roche, Karen Libman , Karron Karr, Kate Foster, Kathryn Grant, Katy Grimes, Kelley Evans, Kristen Gonzalez, Kristin Konopka, Larry Gevirtz, Laurel Ryan, Lauren Stockner, Leal Vona, Lory A Henning, Marian Welch-Evans, Mark Cornell, Mary Hawkins, MaryAnn DeSimone, Maryellen Burns, Matthew Cornell, Matthew DeCoster, Meg Carstens, Megan R Becker, Meri Minatel, Mia Anderson, Michael J Richards, Michael Jaros, Michael Walker, Michele Mossay, Mimi Jefferson, Miriam Goldberg, Nina Psihoules, Paul Fengler, Rachel Klein, Rich Weksberg, Robin Dennis, Ruth Williams Hennessy, Sahadev Poudel, Salli Squitieri, Sarah Norris, Sarah Whicker , Scott Eddlemon, Selina Troesch, Sharone Halevy, Shay Gines, Shoshana Freisinger, Stacy Alley,Stephanie Plaitin ,Stephanie Pruett, Steve & Cynthia Collier, Susan Bell, Susan Russell, Susan Tarran, Tahra Millan, Tim Butterfield, Toni Rafferty, Tzipora Kaplan, Amanda Berry, Una Osato, Veronica, Vincent DiGeronimo, Zhubin Parang
