Four fantastic reviews for Thom Pain!

Thom Pain (based on nothing) by Will Eno

Please come support Nova Arts Project by seeing this show!  I’m really proud of it, and really honored by the great reviews!

Houston Press
Houston Chronicle
CultureVulture
TheatrePort: Naked Critic

“Thom Pain” reviewed at CultureVulture.net!

Thom Pain (based on nothing) by Will Eno reviewed here!  Thanks Nancy Wozny for such a great (and wonderfully written) review!

Interviews galore! 29-95 and KPFT!

Check out the interview about Thom Pain (based on nothing) by Will Eno at 29-95.com!

AND…listen for us today around 1pm on KPFT 90.1’s “Living Art” program!

THOM PAIN (based on nothing) by Will Eno opens TONIGHT!

Nova Arts Project, the Houston theatre company dedicated to re-creating classics and inspiring new works in a fearlessly theatrical way, continues its fourth season with the Houston Premiere of Will Eno’s one-man play Thom Pain (based on nothing).

Running June 18-July 4 at DiverseWorks, Thom Pain (based on nothing) features Houston actor Seán Patrick Judge as the title character. Last seen as Jim Lehrer in Catastrophic Theatre’s The Strangerer, Judge again embodies his role, this time as Eno’s conflicted, cynical and almost too self-aware creation.

For Judge, this role “has been a wonderful challenge…as the character is at once supposed to convey charm, charisma and wit, while at the same time be restrained, subdued and seem to be holding back an entire sea of emotions that could destroy both himself, and potentially the audience members!”

Directed by Atlanta-transplant Matt Huff, Huff first brought this play to the attention of Judge, and Artistic Director Clinton Hopper in 2008. Huff’s interest in the play stems from “my passion for sharing original and provocative new voices in American theater. Will Eno’s plays are unlike anything else in the theater today. With Thom Pain, Eno has reinvented the one-man show and, in doing so, has created a stunning new vision for expressing the inevitable heartbreak, confounding beauty and utter hilarity of being human.”

Artistic Director Hopper sees the play as an easy choice for Nova Arts Project, saying, “as soon as I heard Seán read the play aloud, I knew that fit our mission of presenting new works that are fearlessly theatrical because it isn’t just a monologue but an exploration of what it means to live life clearly.”

Thom Pain (based on nothing), by Will Eno, runs June 18-July 4, Thursdays through Saturdays at 8:00pm at DiverseWorks, 1117 E. Freeway, Houston, TX 77002. Tickets are $10 for students and $15 general admission, with the July 4 closing performance as a pay-what-you-wish (cash only please) 2:00pm matinee. To buy tickets, for more information about the production, or for more information about Nova Arts Project, please go to novaartsproject.com

Two great productions this month!!

Nova Arts Project is very proud to be presenting two fantastic productions…all this month!

First…we’ve been working hard with Opera Vista, helping them to produce their 2-week long 2009 Vista Festival!   This is an EVENT, ladies and gentlemen!  Opens May 21st and runs through May 30th at the University of Houston’s Wortham Theatre!  2 amazing, and poignant full-length performances, as well as 6 fresh opera’s competing for the prize of a full-length production next year!  AND, 2 wonderful performances by Houston’s newest chamber music ensemble, Zephyr!   This is not to be missed!

Read all about it, and get your tickets here.

AND….as if that weren’t enough…

Nova Arts Project is also premiering a brand new play by Houston’s own Elizabeth Keel called “Going Dark”….a taut, dramatic, and supernatural tale about a small school where emotions are a science…and occasionally a weapon.   The arrival of a new student brings a welcome change to two of the professors and one of their protégés, but with a recent loss, emotions for all are too close to the surface.

You can order your tickets now for this short run (May 22nd – 24th) at Midtown Arts Center.

Gate of Heaven Opening Weekend a WILD RIDE!

A message from Seán Patrick Judge, Managing Director of Nova Arts Project:

Wow.  Where to start!   First, we’re so proud to say we were sold out for our first two shows, thanks to the incredible generosity and support from Donna Cole of Cole Chemical, the efforts of Leah Gross, Marilyn Hassid and Susan Farb Morris of the Jewish Community Center, and La Monica Yarbrough and Dena Marks from the Anti-Defamation League.  All of them putting the word out, inviting guests and filling the seats with people who’s lives have already been affected by the story this play recounts.

We had Japanese-American veterans of the 442nd Regiment, who liberated prisoners at Dachau.  We had Survivors who experienced the very liberation and who’s lives were saved by heroes like these tremendous men.   We had BOTH playwrights, Lane Nishikawa and Victor Talmadge brought in, thanks to the ENORMOUS generosity of Donna Cole.

All of the above participated in two incredible “talk-backs” with the audience members, who were so clearly moved, we had to provide tissues in the lobby!

AND, we had two wonderfully catered events (again, thanks to Donna Cole!) with amazing food from Kubo’s Japanese/Sushi restaurant, The French Corner and Randalls’ Kosher Deli.

And to top things off…one of our fabulous lead actors, Jerome Vielman, performed the second show with his arm in a sling!   We are so fortunate to report that both Jerome and playwright Lane Nishikawa, survived a car accident after the Opening Night reception that totaled Jerome’s Volvo (the safest car around, apparently!)   One of Houston’s notoriously well-trained drivers ran a red light and hit Jerome’s passenger side.  Lane was a little bruised, but just fine, but poor Jerome had to go to the hospital to have his shoulder looked at.

Needless to say, some things had to change in our staging at the very last minute on Sunday morning!  But we did it, and audiences were still incredibly moved by the powerful performances by Jerome, Bobby Haworth, Ashley Allison, Greg Hall and Izchel Hernandez.

But it’s not over yet!!  Tickets are STILL available for the remainder of the run!   So please come see the show!   Check out our site for tickets and information.

Finally, I would like to share a portion of an e-mail from one of our audience members to his friends that was shared with me.  It only goes to show how powerful this show has already proven to be:

“Beside for Becky, Sam, Myself and Hanna,, you guys missed out on a great performance!  It was a great story, great acting, and I’m very proud of Jerome.  At first I must admit I am not a live acting, plays type of guy, and thought I would support Jerome and have to sit through some weird stuff I don’t understand.  But I sat for 2 hours thoroughly engaged in the pure emotion of friendship and it really made me appreciate my life.  (I’ve been kinda depressed lately about how my life “sucked” etc, etc…complaining about what I don’t have etc, etc.) but the play which is brilliant in script and acting really brings out the importance of life in a non-cheesy way.

I recommend everyone to go and watch it, bring your friends!  Buy your tickets early, cause I think It should be a packed house. “

Nova featured in Houston Magazine!

Nova Arts Project along with Houston theatre compatriots Bootown, Catastrophic and Mildred’s Umbrella are mentioned in a great article in Houston Modern Luxury Magazine.

See for yourself here!

“Flip” to page 64 and read the article for yourself!   Also has a huge accompanying photo from our recent smash The Bacchae!

Opens next week! “The Bacchae” directed by Clinton Hopper

Come see the story of the god Dionysus, son of Zeus and mortal woman, Semele….

Semele died before Dionysus was born because Zeus appeared to her in his true form and burned her to ash. Subsequently, his mortal family rejected Dionysus and claimed that Semele was pregnant by another man instead of Zeus and was killed for her promiscuity.

Dionysus, the god of wine, fertility and prophecy, travels to his mother’s home, the city of Thebes, with his followers, the Bacchants, and proceeds to wreak his terrible vengeance on his family and the city.

With updated, but still heightened language, much of the story will be told through dance. The ensemble cast spent the first weeks of rehearsal undergoing intense ballroom dance training – learning everything from tango to waltz and foxtrot to paso doble.

All performances are at 8:00 p.m, from August 7th – 16th at the Jose Quintero Theatre at the University of Houston, Main Campus, Entrance #16 off of Cullen, Houston, TX

Tickets are $10 for students and on a sliding scale of $17-$30 for general admission.

Tickets can be purchased in advance online at http://www.novaartsproject.com or at the door.

Reservations can be made by calling the Nova Arts Project office at 713-623-4033.

Nova Arts Project is a Houston-based, not-for-profit performing arts organization that seeks to recreate classics and inspire new works in a fearlessly theatrical way.

For more information about Nova Arts Project, please visit http://www.novaartsproject.com.