Philly Poet Lisa Grunberger Lights Up Cornelia St. Cafe Fri., May 15

This Friday, May 16th, Three Rooms Press and Cornelia St. Cafe proudly present poet extraordinaire Lisa Grunberger at the weekly Son of a Pony Poetry Reading, 6 p.m. at Cornelia Street Cafe.

Grunberger's poems come at you from all angles, then seem to zero in on that part of you that most desires to be fulfilled. Sex and food--the eroticism and spirituality of daily life--are her themes. Her poems are accessible, witty, tender and full of love, addressing the human drama from adoption to grief, from making pickles to baking bread. She has published widely in journals including The Paterson LIterary Review, Mudfish, Nimrod and The Drunken Boat.

Host is TRP's own Kat Georges. Open reading before the feature. Sign up at 5:45 to make the list.

Son of a Pony Poetry Reading Series
Friday, May 1, 2009, 6 pm
Feature: Lisa Grunberger
Host: Kat Georges
Open reading before the feature
Cornelia St. Cafe
29 Cornelia Street (btwn W. 4th & Bleecker)
NYC
http://www.corneliastreetcafe.com
212-989-9319

HOOK-UPS: 5 Intense Plays by L.A.'s Jan Michael Alejandro Friday May 8 at Dramatist Guild

Four intense short plays and one mini-musical by award-winning Los Angeles playwright Jan Michael Alejandro will be staged in a showcase event at the Dramatist Guild’s Frederick Lowe Room (1501 Broadway, Suite 701) on Friday, May 8 at 7:30 p.m.

Alejandro, a member of the Dramatists Guild of America, The Alliance of Los Angeles Playwrights, ANMT and a BMI composer, has had several of his works produced in L.A. to critical acclaim. In a Critic’s Pick review, Backstage West commends Alejandro’s “fine writing and compelling interwoven setups . . . that capture love, anger, biting humor, and support."

For the NYC showcase, award-winning Off-Broadway director Adam Fitzgerald directs “Mountain Road” (with Dina Ann Comolli and Craig Lenti) and “Bad Dad” the offbeat mini-musical comedy (with Rich Fromm, Michelle Carano, Richard Ugino, Joseph Mazzella & Gil Brady; musical director Michael Harren). Fitzgerald is currently Robert Moss Directing Resident at Playwrights Horizons.

PLUS TRP's own Kat Georges directs “Leticia” (with Lourdes Natalie Rose and Peter Carlaftes) and “Chin Up" (with Yoshiko Fujii, Peter Carlaftes and Jessica DiSalvo). Georges served as artistic director of San Francisco’s Marilyn Monroe Memorial Theater for 10 years, and has been directing and performing in New York since 2003. Jan Alejandro directs “Bautismo“ (with J.W. Cortes, Angel Ramirez & Cyre' Rodriguez).

The event is free and open to the public. Seating is strictly on a first-come first-served basis For more info and reservations, please email threeroomspress@mac.com.

The Dramatist Guild
Frederick Loewe Room
1501 Broadway, Suite 701
New York

Larry Myers' "Jack Kerouac: Catholic" set for NYC premiere this Sat., May 2

Award-winning Off-Broadway playwright Larry Myers stages a special spring showcase of his new play, “Jack Kerouac: Catholic” on Saturday, May 2, 7 p.m., Saval Auditorium at 101 Murray Street. The play—part of Dr. Myers’ Theater Project at
St. John’s University, and will be directed by Kat Georges—exposes a unique and rarely-discussed side of the multifaceted originator of the beat movement. The event will also feature presentations by Kerouac experts and poets including George Wallace, Peter Carlaftes, Ryan Buynak and Claire Ultimo.

The play stars a cast of 12 astounding actors, including David DeCuir, Robert Grant, Michael Kostas, Brandon McCluskey, Mickey Pizzo, Jordan Spoon, Manny Liyes, Harry May-Kline, Joshua Dudley, Jeremy Patrick Hamilton, Janice Bishop and Ivan Perez.

Myers, Associate Professor, continues his effort to bring New York Theater professionals and established literary figures to the Manhattan St. John's campus. This allows the students to interact with those in the professional field. Myers hopes to institute an International Playwriting Center at St. John’s in the middle of Manhattan. Ms. Georges, was founder and artistic director of San Francisco’s Marilyn Monroe Memorial Theater for 10 years and has been directing in New York for five years.

Called by the New York Daily News “one of Off-Broadway’s wittiest & more prolific playwrights,” Dr. Myers has written many plays about Vincentian concerns: the homeless, physically challenged, environmental issues. His “Finding God's Face” (about St Vincent de Paul) premiered at the main campus starring Peter Facinelli as Young Vincent. Facinelli is currently starring in the film blockbuster "Twilight." Myers’ “Limericks from Undisclosed Locations” was a response to his post-Katrina volunteerism. He set up drama workshops in both Manhattan (Long Island City, Chinatown & Roosevelt Island) & San Francisco working with the homeless & seniors. At Roosevelt Island’s Coler Hospital he did drama therapy with the severely disabled. Several of his plays concern notable Catholics, including Mary Anderson, the great 19th-century stage star & Tennessee Williams.

The Saval Theater is at 101 Murray St. (between Greenwich & West). Take the #1 train to Chambers Street, walk down two blocks, over two. This project is an open classroom project. Email threeroomspress@mac.com for reservations.

Poet Elizabeth Harrington at Cornelia St. Cafe This Fri., May 1

Elizabeth Harrington’s poems have appeared in The Hudson Review, Field, Nimrod, The Sun, Rattapallax, and other journals, and in an anthology about divorce. She was a winner of the Allen Ginsberg Poetry Award and second place winner in The Ledge Poetry Contest. Her chapbook “Earth’s Milk” was first runner-up in the Main Street Rag Chapbook Poetry contest. She has a Ph.D. in Psychology and works at a market research company in New York.

Join us for a great night of poetry, including the infamous Son of a Pony Open Poetry Reading before the feature. Arrive early to sign up on the list. Host for this wondrous event will be TRP's own Kat Georges, who is proud to be a part of what many folks call "The best poetry reading in New York City!" See you there!

Friday, May 1, 6 p.m.
Son of a Pony Poetry Reading series
Feature: Elizabeth Harrington
Host: Kat Georges
Cornelia Street Cafe
29 Cornelia St (between W. 4th & Bleecker)
212-989-9319

Incredible Poet Peter Carlaftes launches new collection this Friday at Cornelia St. Cafe

Peter Carlaftes is one of the most unique minds on the poetry scene. His work is often humorous, always insightful, and hell-bent on being drop dead original, though it resonates with overtones of Bukowski, Baudelaire and Bogart.

This Friday Three Rooms Press and Cornelia St. Cafe present Son of a Pony, featuring Peter Carlaftes and the launch of his new poetry collection. "Progressive Shots" is the final book in his Bar Poems trilogy--all on Three Rooms Press. The book is a rare riot, and the reading is sure to be a blast, too. The $7 admission includes a free drink.

Plus there's an open reading before the feature--hosted by TRP's Kat Georges! Prepare for loads of fun! Arrive early to sign up.


Son of a Pony Reading
Friday, April 17, 6 p.m.
Cornelia Street Cafe
29 Cornelia St. (between W. 4th and Bleecker)
New York City
212-989-9319
Doors open 5:45
212-731-0574

Phenomenal Paris-based Sephardic Singer Makes NYC Debut April 12

Phenomenal Sephardic singer Annie Darmon, whose five-octave range has ignited rave reviews in France, Germany, Brazil and Britain, makes her New York debut with two performances on Sunday, April 12, including an 11 a.m. opening slot for the Klezmer Brunch at City Winery and a 6 p.m. solo show at Cornelia Street Café.

Darmon (vocals/guitar) fills the room with her incredible unamplified voice, singing songs of joy, grief and hope, in a program of poetic music sung in Ladino, French, English and Yiddish. Her voice expresses violence and softness, joy and despair, with a deep, heartfelt intensity. Her way is heavy with history, powdery with the dust of the roads of exile. Her work can be
heard online at http://www.myspace.com/anniedarmon

Critics have long raved about Darmon’s performances. Jacques Julliard of Le Nouvel Observateur reports, “A stunning voice with an unprecedented intensity, with a singular dramatic force that raises even higher [Darmon’s] authentic qualities as an artist…” Madame Figaro notes, “An exceptional voice, that grabs you all at once: body and soul ...” Present’s Hervé Pennven writes, “At times, her voice surrounds you from every part and you no longer are able to tell where it comes from.”

Darmon will perform an opening set Sunday, April 12 at 11 a.m. as part of the Klezmer Brunch at City Winery, 155 Varick St. (between Spring and
Vandam), 212-608-0555. Admission $10.

A solo concert takes place at 6 p.m. April 12 at Cornelia Street Cafe (29 Cornelia Street, between W. 4th Street & Bleecker), 212-989-9319. Easily accessible from A, B, C, D, E, F, V trains, exit at W. 4th Street station.
Admission is $12 and includes a free drink.

Email threeroomspress@mac.com for reservations and further information.

Poet Ben Mazer slated for Cornelia St. Cafe reading April 3

This Friday at Cornelia St. Cafe, Three Rooms Press and Son of a Pony proudly present featured poet Ben Mazer, who's work has been lauded by MTV poet laureate John Ashberry: "To read [Mazer] is to follow him along a dreamlike corridor where everything is beautiful and nothing is as it seems." Kat Georges hosts the event.

Ben Mazer's poems have appeared in Fulcrum, Harvard Review, Stand, Jacket, Verse and many other international periodicals. He is the author of The Foundations of Poetry Mathematics (Cannibal Books). He is the editor of Landis Everson's Everything Preserved: Poems 1955-2005 (Graywolf Press), which won the Emily Dickinson Award from the Poetry Foundation, and a contributing editor to Fulcrum: An Annual of Poetry and Aesthetics.

Details:

Son of a Pony Poetry Reading Series
Friday, April 3, 2009, 6 pm
Feature: Ben Mazer
Host: Kat Georges
Open reading before the feature
Admission: $7 (includes free drink)

Arrive early to sign up for the open reading before the feature!