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Cast Member Profile: MICHAEL WEEMS |
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| Michael Weems | Actor
Michael Weems Is a NYC based actor/writer/playwright. Michael has recently appeared in Art (Developing Acts), Burden Me (Strawberry Riant Festival), Mind Bleach (sketch comedy troupe performing at the Broadway Comedy Club), Dance at Bataan (Wings Theater), Office Hours and The Twilight of the Golds (Phare Play Productions), and 1776 (St. Bart's Players). Recent writing credits include: Fragments and Onward, Forward (Little Hibiscus Productions), and Subtlety (Algonquin Theater). Thanks to my loves, Christine & Thomas. Michaeltweems.c...Continued |
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Schedule of Upcoming Productions
Production History
Art
| Open: 01/23/09 Close: 01/25/09 - Beckmann Theater
Art, the Tony Award Winning comedy, raises questions about how well you actually know your friends. Set in Paris, the story revolves around Serge, Marc and Yvan, who find their previously solid 15-year friendship on shaky ground when Serge buys an expensive painting - white lines on a white background. Lines are drawn and they square off over the canvas, using it as an excuse to relentlessly batter one another over various failures. As their arguments become less theoretical and more personal, their friendships teeter on the edge. | |
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Dance at Bataan
| Open: 06/28/08 Close: 07/26/08 - Wings Theatre
While researching Post Traumatic Stress Disorder for her graduate thesis, Hannah Swindon comes across suspicious files regarding a WWII survivor of the Bataan Death March. Slowly becoming friends with Mr. Edwards, she becomes engrossed in the incredible story of three friends that created a "university" while POWs in order to survive brutal Japanese treatment. When Hannah finds out the incredible truth to Mr. Edwards' time at Bataan she is forced to decide whether to protect a friend or use his story to graduate. Assistant Director: Brooklyn Scalzo For photos, blogs and additional information about this production, go to www.myspace.com/danceatbataan | |
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Fragments
| Open: 07/15/09 Close: 07/17/09 - Manhattan Repertory Theatre
Between Elizabeth's 'loving' emasculation of any man nearby, George's rampant paranoia that the sexiest girl ever - Cassandra - will make him her bitch, and Ryan's maniac nightmares of his castrating fiancé, these roommates and the rest of the myriad ensemble throw together a slap dash party to inevitably fulfill their sad destinies through wildly mismatched love affairs, life-altering prank phone calls, and the perpetual misconnection between an ambitious TV journalist-to-be and the guy next door. Fragments invites you to laugh at their misfortune, empathize if you’ve gone through it too recently, and reminisce on when you were so naïve and fondly wonder…. What the hell was I thinking?! Part of Manhattan Repertory Theatre's Summerfest Directed by Christine Vinh Weems | |
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I, Undertow
| Open: 08/15/09 Close: 08/22/09 - Wings Theatre
Everyone has issues. All of Justin's live in North Carolina. Justin's an up and coming artist thriving in NYC whose world grinds to a halt when the worse thing possible happens to him - he gets the call to come home due to his grandmother's failing health. Slinking back to small town North Carolina with his latest one night stand forced upon him, he finds himself back neck deep in the family issues that he had been avoiding for more than a decade and facing the girl he left behind. In the midst of the culture clash between small town quirkiness and big city society behavior, Justin may actually discover what he had been running from for all of those years. Emmy-winner Blake Bradford's newest play takes a hard look at the humor and heartache of going home. RETURN ENGAGEMENT AT WINGS THEATRE | |
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I, Undertow
| Open: 03/26/09 Close: 04/05/09 - Beckmann Theatre @ American Theater Of A
Everyone has issues. All of Justin's live in North Carolina. Justin's an up and coming artist thriving in NYC whose world grinds to a halt when the worse thing possible happens to him - he gets the call to come home due to his grandmother's failing health. Slinking back to small town North Carolina with his latest one night stand forced upon him, he finds himself back neck deep in the family issues that he had been avoiding for more than a decade and facing the girl he left behind. In the midst of the culture clash between small town quirkiness and big city society behavior, Justin may actually discover what he had been running from for all of those years. Phare Play Productions is proud to present the world premier of Blake Bradford's newest play - a hard look at the humor and heartache of going home. | |
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Onward, Forward
| Open: 12/03/08 Close: 12/07/08 - Beckmann Theatre @ American Theater Of A
Onward, Forward is a comic look at the ongoing relationship between Joe, a disgruntled folk singer dying to rock out and his songwriter/manager, Ryan who searches for a cure to life in the offices of whichever doctor his insurance will allow. Their frustrating friendship is put to the test in suburbia where what starts as a typical gig leads to encounters with a sharp-witted single mother, a sorority girl looking for a way to entertain herself for the summer, and parents that seem harmless on the outside. As their musical pit stop gets extended, Joe and Ryan find themselves in a situation that threatens to make them lose who they are and who they want to be. | |
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| Spring Shorts
| Open: 03/08/08 Close: 03/12/08 - Wings Theatre
Your god called. He/she commands that you attend Phare Play Productions' Spring Shorts. While avoiding the vengeful wrath of your god, take a look at how one's beliefs color a sphere of circumstances ranging from worship to drinking games, from runaways to the Home Shopping Network. You'll find that laugh-out-loud comedy, romance, and thought provoking pieces abound. This collection of one acts will leave you laughing, crying and maybe even provoke your core beliefs. Plus, you won't get struck down by lightning if you attend. Oh, and your god says to bring friends.
Three gods at a party have a contest to try to get a new believer. Starring: Nick Masson, Rachel McPhee, Zack Rothman-Hicks, Aref Syed, Michael Weems and Shuo Zhang.
A bickering couple gets more than they expected after a mysteriously enigmantic man hops in their backseat. Starring: Abraham Adams, Gina Labozetta and Tim Kondrat.
Four drunk college students get a new perspective on life when they hear a news report that aliens are taking over the planet. Starring: Janice Amano, Mara Dratfield, Chelsea Holland and Miguel Rosales.
In crisis, world-famous Fifi La Grange returns to New York after four months away to entreat help from her two best friends. Starring: Beth Adler, Sally Connors, Peggy Queener, Zach Rothman-Hicks and Aref Syed.
A young runaway and her mother find salvation in an unlikely guardian. Starring: Deborah Johnstone, Natalie Neckyfarow and George Remes.
A despondent young man seeking answers at church encounters a well-meaning, but troubled groom and his bride-to-be, a painfully familiar face from his past. Starring: Bill Bria, Nicholas Santasier and Nora Vetter. | |
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Tape
| Open: 02/27/09 Close: 03/01/09 - Matthew Corozine Studio
An impromptu 10 year reunion puts friends under fire when Vince, a pot dealing fire fighter, tries to get Jon, an aspiring film maker, to confess to the past. A suspenseful, high-stakes drama, "Tape" is a look at how perception can color memory and that the past is sometimes not what you remember. Performed with “Waiting Life” – a new one act about dating in New York City from both sides of the coin. It’s a night of theatre that looks at relationships from different perspectives – for better and for worse. | |
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The Last Cloud
| Open: 06/20/07 Close: 07/01/07 - Roy Arias Theaters
Taking place over the course of a year, The Last Cloud follows five friends as they navigate life after college, in the awkward phase before they have the skills to "be" anything. Things go awry when Laura's younger brother moves in for the summer, showing everyone that there is more to life than office politics. Set against the metaphor of a Rubik's Cube, The Last Cloud is a coming of age story of how friends can get so intertwined that they lose their individuality. With an amazing ensemble cast, The Last Cloud promises to be a rock-and-roll thrill ride for a generation that is just now considering growing up. Toss in a goulash of art, politics, and blatant 80's nostalgia and you have what reviewer Robert McDowell called, "The most engaging night of theatre I've experience in a long time. A true must-see!" | |
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The Twilight of the Golds
| Open: 12/01/07 Close: 12/05/07 - Wings Theatre
If your parents knew everything about you before you were born, would you be here? All is well when Suzanne Gold and her close New York family discover that she is pregnant, until a prenatal genetics test reveals that the baby will most likely be homosexual. The news forces the entire Gold family to confront issues of bigotry, evolution and the limits of love. | |
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Wincing At The Light
| Open: 02/24/10 Close: 02/27/10 - Beckmann Theater
When a professional hockey team comes calling, Ben has to celebrate. His zealous festivities leave him with an upset girlfriend, a lovelorn best friend, an underappreciated teammate, and an ankle device monitoring his movements to a probation officer. As their final playoff game approaches, Ben not-so-deftly navigates the temptations that could potentially undercut his future and leave him with all or nothing. Wincing at the Light is a comedic portrayal of what can happen when loyalty, friendship, and love are forced to face off to decide the true winner. Directed by Gretchen Ferris | |
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Wwss5 - Phare Play's 21 Hour Play Festival
| Open: 03/28/09 Close: 03/28/09 - Beckmann Theater
Phare Play is back with its biannual short play festival. 21 hours to put together seven one acts for your viewing pleasure. Here's how those 21 hours break down: SEVEN CAFFEINATED WRITERS: Friday, March 27th: They meet at the Beckmann theatre in midtown at 10PM to get their themes, script guidelines and the headshots/resumes for the actors they have to write a play for. They go stock up on coffee/Red Bull and write all night and come back at 10 AM on Saturday morning with six copies of their completed scripts ready to go. There they meet up with - SEVEN IMMENSELY CREATIVE DIRECTORS: Who also show up at 10:00 AM on Saturday, March 28th at the Beckmann theatre. They are then handed a script and given about 30 - 45 minutes to caucus with their writer. Then about 11:00AM, the writers go home to sleep and the directors meet up with their - THIRTY BRAVE AND ENERGIZED ACTORS: Who then go out into the city with their directors and casts to rehearse for a good five hours or so. Just enough time for the actors to be fully blocked and off book. Then there are two shows - one at 7PM and one at 9:30PM that very evening. There is also an audience vote for fun awards like Hottest Cast and Best Use of Prop. Come be a part of the fun!
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| Wwss6
| Open: 10/17/09 Close: 10/17/09 - Beckmann Theatre @ American Theater Of A
Six writers have decided that they don't need to sleep and that they can IV line some caffeine to write a show in 12 hours : Joe Benincase, Gabriel Garcia, Duncan Pflaster, Oliver Thrun, Nora Vetter and Michael Weems. Six directors are actually brave enough to lead a bunch of strangers and assemble a show on the fly: Kelly Barrett, Chris Bell, Gretchen Ferris, Graeme Humphrey, Ashley Marinaccio and Chris Simon. Twenty-four actors are putting it on the line to see who can hold it together to be fully blocked and off book on a mere six hours of rehearsal : Stevie Aycock, Marian Brock, Melisa Breiner-Sanders, Mary Brown, Chris Cusano, Paul Falcetta, Tanya Fazal, Erin Fehr, Ben Klier, Jamie Lewis, Jeffery Martin, Samantha Mason, Kristen Kay Miller, Doua Moua, Natalie Neckyfarow, Faith O'Gorman, Jeffrey Parrillo, Cory Shoemake, Alexia Terrell, Aimee Todoroff, Thomas Wesson, Zak Wilson, Laura Yost and Jenny Zerke You know you want to see this! It's either going to be a train wreck or an unbelievable spectacle of fun! There are two shows - one at 7PM and one at 9:30PM that very evening. There is also an audience vote for fun awards like Hottest Cast and Best Use of Prop. Come root them on! | |
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