Happy Opening/Closing: Hound Dog

We just wrapped our shorter than expected run of Hound Dog at Ars Nova. Despite playing to full houses every night, our run was not extended as we were told it would be. We were all pretty disappointed by this decision. I won’t say much more on here about it, but theater is a business and we are all looking forward to our next endeavors.

I wanted to share some photos from our opening and closing parties. Closing was a particular highlight because it was held on the rooftop of our theater, Barrow Street Theater @ Greenwich House. After reading the wikipedia page for Greenwich House early on in the tech process, I learned that there was a playground atop the building. Because there’s also a preschool in the building, we weren’t permitted to explore other than the theater and basement dressing rooms. The building’s security guard, Calvin, kindly informed me and bassist Mel Hsu of that fact when we tried to take the elevator to the roof during our first week in the theater! Whoops!

Here are the photos, all by HanJie Chow.

The full company on our amazing set

Your truly

Hot band alert: The Flaming Sultans! Me, Sahar Milani, Maya Sharpe, and Mel Hsu

The Flaming Sultans at closing on the roof of Greenwich House

Hound Dog

For the last few weeks I’ve been working on a brand new play presented by Ars Nova: Hound Dog. We are currently in previews and open this coming Saturday. Here’s the official blurb:

In Melis Aker’s world premiere play HOUND DOG, a young musician returns from abroad to her hometown of Ankara, Turkey to look after her widowed father. Forced to reckon with the family and community she left behind, an investigation into her grieving parent’s strange pilgrimage to Graceland unravels into a sonic mirage of memory packed with humor, nostalgia and the love we cultivate across generations.

I’ve made a lot of new friends on this show and get to play with a really excellent band, including lead singer Sahar Milani, guitarist Maya Sharpe, and Mel Hsu on bass.

Here are some setup shots:

I’m playing a delightfully acoustic setup: 5-piece Gretsch kit with darbuka, triangle, tambourine, and wood block.

The view of our lead singer, Sahar Milani, from my seat. We are on the second story of the set that has windows that open up to reveal the band.

Of course I need the Miller Machine to make this show happen!

The array of sticks I’m using

Me with Maya Sharpe and Mel Hsu. We are the Flaming Sultans!