Okay so this is officially my first new post in a very, very long ass time. I am not a posting type of a guy (unless it's on facebook and such) anyway these last few years have been pretty good in my artistic life. Still getting back on my feet after a very tough year of recuperating from illness., but things have settled down down and I am on a routine. On the artistic side I've been very productive these last few years what with having plays presented in San Diego, New York, Rochester, Chicago and being selected to be a part of the Actor's Studio Playwright & Director Unit, truly a great honor. And through this connection I got hired to write two short films. So now I'm officially a screenwriter. Which is pretty cool. Recently I had my seventh play presented at the Downtown Urban Theatre Festival and I'm currently juggling half a dozen scripts at different stages of development. On the acting front I made my prime time cable debut on HBO's The Leftovers. Looking forward to the second half of 2015.
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Long time since my last entry, well let's see what's been happening. I spent a lot of the middle part of 2012 as well as the beginning of 2013 developing a play of mine called "In Da Boogie Down" and have had several readings both in New York and Chicago with more readings to come into 2014. This year I was also honored to be a playwright-in-residence for Voices Inside/Out in Kentucky and I wrote a new full length play titled "Full Moon Inside A Red Sky" which was developed at The LAByrinth theatre company's Summer intensive at Connecticut Collegewhich with much reliefe was very, very well receivedThis past year I was completed a run of "To Fool The Eye" presented by the Boomerang theatre company.
Terrific time at the table read for "Bob's Gang" an original screenplay written by David Henry Hwang (M Butterfly) and director Jonathan Caovette (Tarnation). A very promsing and at times very moving and inspirational script.
I'm very excited and proud that my play "In Da Boogie Down" has just been nominated for the 2012 Metlife Foundation "Nuestra Voces" playwrighting award. It's been a long development journey but the hard work that my director and I have put into the play is starting to pay off.
With the work that was started during my couple of hours of writing as part of WRITE OUT FRONT event I now have a new play I'm working on with the working title "Full Moon in a Red Sky" - the basic story line is as follows: Two strangers with wounded hearts find themselves underneath a full moon with a red sky discover that love is only a fallen snowflake away.
Last week I had a great time doing the WRITE OUT FRONT at the drama book store. I think I may have discovered the sees of a new one act play. This week is also very exciting to me because rehearsals have begun for the west coast premiere of my two one acts play "By The Dawn's Early Light: Midnight Mass & Los Embrujados" - performances begin in September
Rewrites continuing on "In Da Boogie Down" - the script is getting tighter-more focused and much to my surprisse with the changes less hopeful and more tragic. Yesterday I got new representation, I have a manager now. It was an excellent meeting, the best I've ever had with new representation. She will be focusing on the acting side of my life, which is fine with me. This was a little sunshine after a tough week.
Well the blur of July and a Summer to forget has gone away and now the hope of Fall has come and gone with the arrival of August. Health battles continue, but also some light keeps creeping in with arrival of some artistic work and possibilties - Meetings with a manager, the WRITE OUTFRONT event and another birthday coming up. All good things in nthe shadow of some not so good things, but these few positives do lift my spirits somewhat.
Well its been a tough couple of months. I was hit by a surprise hospital stay which will soon turn into surgery. In between I've been trying to maintain my focus an not let this medical problem side track me. I recently complete working on a stage reading adaptation of "The Count of Monte Cristo" at The Players Club, which was an experience onto itself. The play was a very, very well written adaptation, but the experience of being at the players club was one of those once-in-a-lifetime moments for me. The building is a wealth of theatrical history. At the moment I'm finishing up final re-writes on a new play of mine titled "In Da Boogie Down", which will be developed at the LAByrinth's Summer Intensive at Connecticut College. Until next time. Peace
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AuthorMel Nieves is a New York City born and raise award-winning actor/playwright. He is also a proud member of LAByrinth Theatre Company. His most recent work includes, Mando Alvardo's Sangre, presented as part of City Park Foundation SummerStages, Matthew Harrington's Don Pedro de La Cebolla at the Interart Theatre and independent feature film The Children of Hip Hop, written & directed by Antonio Dela Cruz. Archives
May 2015
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