Melissa Skirboll
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Good reviews for Straight Faced Lies!

6/6/2013

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from Martin Denton over at NYTheatre.com: 
"Melissa Skirboll has directed Straight Faced Lies with economy and verve. Her fine cast inhabit their roles intelligently..."
http://nytheatre.com/Review/martin-denton-2013-6-3-straight-faced-lies


and over at stagebuddy.com (the review doesn't have a credit attached so for now it remains anonymous): 
"Snappy dialogue, superior plotting, and powerful use of space make “Straight Faced Lies” a delight." (Oh and by the way stage buddy, that "powerful use of space" was created by the director - yeah me.)
http://stagebuddy.com/reviews/straight-faced-lies/
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Straight Faced Lies at Planet Connections

6/4/2013

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For the third year in a row I'm participating in the Planet Connections Theatre Festivity here in NYC. This year I'm directing the world premiere of Mark Jason William's STRAIGHT FACED LIES. We opened Sunday night to positive feedback from the audience and the audience last night seemed to laugh non-stop (which made me happy!) Sometime today we should see a review from Martin Denton at NYTheatre.com - will post it when it's up! It's been fun to work on this - the cast is very talented, the script is a delight -- and this year I don't have the added responsibility of being the producer as well as the director, which certainly simplifies things! Hope you can  make it out to see one of the last four shows - I know there are seats left to our show today 4:00 p.m. at the Robert Moss Theater, 440 Lafayette St, NYC - see you there? https://web.ovationtix.com/trs/pr/921739
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New clips up

3/26/2013

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Save The Date - Swan Day 4/8/13 at 7:00

3/26/2013

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 My play Blood is Thicker will get its first reading (directed by me!) as part of the Abingdon Theatre's Swan Day celebration

SWAN day - Support Women Artists Now

“MOTHER SAID”
An evening of new play readings and song
by women artists in celebration of SWAN DAY!

Monday, April 8, 2013
7:00pm

Join us in the June Havoc Theatre.
FREE!
No reservations necessary.
Refreshments will be served in the lobby.

FEATURED ARTISTS INCLUDE

Barbara Bleier* ● Danielle Bourgeois ● Sheila Burkert*
Hilary Edson* ● Stephanie Keys ● Carole Monferdini*
Dara O’Brien* ● Judy Rosenblatt* ● Jennifer Rau* ● Lily Rusek
Aliza Shane ● Melissa Skirboll ● Bara Swain ● Jessica Vera*
and more to be announced! 

Sue Maskaleris on piano 
Barbara Bleier, vocals
Special thanks to Penina Rubin, Alix Becq and Erin Cawley.
Donations will  support SANCTUARY FOR FAMILIES and
ABINGDON’S NEW PLAY DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM.
All participants are donating their  talent in celebration of SWAN DAY.
* Member, Actors’ Equity Association

                       
Abingdon Theatre Company
312 West 36th Street, just west of 8th Ave.
June Havoc Theatre

Abingdon Theatre Company
312 West 36th Street, just west of 8th Ave.
June Havoc Theatre


Abingdon Theatre Company, whose mission is “to develop and produce new plays by American playwrights,” has driven the development of more than 300 original plays since 1993.

For more information, visit our website @ www.abingdontheatre.org



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Planet Connections Theatre Festivity Awards

7/30/2012

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The Closet was nominated for FIVE awards at this years Planet Connections Theatre Festivity And I WON Best Director (short form play)!

Very excited and happy and want to acknowledge everyone involved. Someone, somewhere, said that 90% of a directors job is casting - my cast MAUREEN VAN TREASE and SUSAN MCBRIEN were brilliant and made my job a breeze. STEVEN ALBANO as Stage Manager did a bang up job of keeping us together and focused and running the lights and everything else he ended up doing. AMY GRAY PIPER - the writer of the wonderful words we got to play with and WILLIAM JOHNSON my graphic design partenr and collaborator on the postcard/poster images. You 
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Interview at Stage Buzz!

6/21/2012

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http://www.stagebuzz.com/2012/06/planet-connections-interview-melissa.html

What is your show about?
THE CLOSET is the story of Ruth, a woman struggling to come to terms with her past. It explores the nature of memory and reality. Ruth has glossed over and buried her family history, but her past has come back to haunt her. Ruth, played by Maureen Van Trease, imagines a series of conversations with her long dead mother, Mara, played by Susan McBrien, and with each conversation she gets closer to the truth.  

For the rest of the interview
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PRESS for The Closet

5/29/2012

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Melissa Skirboll talks to Patrick Hickey at Review Fixhttp://reviewfix.com/2012/05/review-fix-exclusive-interview-with-the-closet-director-melissa-skirboll/

5 Things To Know about the Closet at The Happiest Mediumhttp://thehappiestmedium.com/2012/05/the-closet-5-things-to-know-about-the-show-before-you-go-2012-planet-connections-festivity/  
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Load In TODAY!

5/28/2012

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Finally! We get to be in the theatre - if only for 30 minutes to load in our set pieces - but still! We're all excited to see the space we will be performing in. The crew from BED is coming to pick up my bed - I donated it for the performances; both BED and THE CLOSET need a bed and I have been wanting to replace mine for some time. I was going to wait until I moved; but I figured this was a great opportunity to clear out some of the old and put it to good use. So they are coming to get the bed and our other set pieces. We get to load it into the theatre and see what we are dealing with. Thursday we have our tech rehearsal and then WE OPEN SATURDAY!!!!!

I just want to take a moment to share here a little about the people I'm working with; this is a small production but it is full of incredible talent and professionalism. 

The two actresses I am working with are pushing themselves further and further each time we rehearse. I find myself getting chills each time we meet - even though I've now seen it 100's of times, each time they bring something fresh and profound to play that moves the story into an even more profoundly disturbing place. Thank you Maureen Van Trease and Susan McBrien for taking this journey with me and trusting me along the way.

And Steven Albano - our stage manager. In his NYC "professional" debut is doing a yeoman's job at keeping us on course. Thank you for rising to the challenge, for being cool, calm and in control - and for being able to translate my directions when they aren't making sense!

And my graphics partner; William Johnson. What would I do without you? You donate your time and creativity to support my vision and I am profoundly grateful to have you in my life as a friend, a collaborator, a co-creator and co worker. He takes the ideas I have bouncing in my brain and gives them shape.

And last, but certainly not least, the playwright. Amy Gray Piper wrote a play that I loved from the get go. And then she willingly let me take it and shape it. I am so thrilled to be given a chance to tell the story she wrote. And so touched that she trusted me enough to give me carte blanche in shaping it. Amy, I  hope you find we gave the story wings, and that it matches or even surpasses your vision for it.

I've been incredibly blessed on this journey to have such amazing people to collaborate with; theater is a group project and it can be a trial if all the members aren't working well together. This has been a dream team and I couldn't have asked for a better experience. I hope you get a chance to see what we created together; I think it will knock your socks off!

Thank you all - I've been having a blast working witha ll of you!
xoxoxo
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Fundraising has begun for THE CLOSET!

4/4/2012

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http://www.indiegogo.com/theclosetatplanetconnections?a=516419

All donations are appreciated! As are your good wishes. If you can't donate now - that's fine - but please share the information with your friends or colleagues who might be interested in helping out the production or our charitable partner: WIN - Women in Need.http://www.women-in-need.org/

No money? No friends? You want to help out anyway? Get in touch - we need volunteers for various and sundry tasks that need to get done before or during  the run. 

About to put up a separate page for THE CLOSET with many more details. Look for it on this website!And yes! You can buy tickets in advance! HERE:http://planetconnections.org/bed-and-the-closet/ 
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Johnson/Skirboll Design at it again....

3/19/2012

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Last night me and my super talented friend William (he played Joe in last year's production of Hell is Where the Heart Is) sat down and worked out our postcard/flyer/poster design for The Closet. (A big thank you to William Johnson!) That's a copy of it above this post.

The Closet by Amy Gray Piper will be part of the 2012 Planet Connections Theatre Festivity. I'm directing it (and with my production company LifeDream Productions, producing it.) Maureen Van Trease (Last year's winner of Outstanding  Supporting Actress in a Play for her work in Hell is Where the Heart Is) and Susan McBrien (2010 winner of Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Musical for her work in BJ: A Musical Romp) will be starring. Ameer Mohammed will be Stage Manager and for that I am thanking my lucky stars!

This is gonna be a good show!
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    MmSkirBlog

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