AMT FAMILY SHINES

It has been a wonderful week for the wider AMT Theater family. This team is brimming with talent and it is fanastic when they get the recognition they deserve.

To start with Steven Ditmyer directed Cock by Mike Bartlett in Vienna and it opened to rave reviews! He has been working on this for months, pouring all his energy into making it a brilliant production and we are so happy that it had such a strong opening with excellent reviews. What's even better is that our Producing Director, Tamara Flannagan (who happens to be Steve's wife) was there for opening night to share this exciting experience. We miss her, but we wouldn't want her to be anywhere else right now. Well done Steven! We wish we could see it...maybe bring it to NYC next?!

"The Vienna staging, produced by Kulturverein Vollmund under the direction of Steven Ditmyer, transforms the stage into a symbolic boxing ring, heightening the emotional intensity of the drama. The jarring sound of the bell between scenes serves as a wake-up call, a stark reminder of the battles waged within. Bartlett’s sharp and witty dialogue comes to life through stellar performances by Alan Burgon (John), Florian Sebastian Fitz (M), Isabella Jeschke (W), and Alexander E. Fennon (F), whose dramatic immersion into the material cast a spell on me." Go here for the rest of this great review.

Next up, Jack Feldstein, our Film Liaison and Box Office hero, is getting recognition for his beautiful animation "The Secret of the Birds". It has been selected for the Lift-Off Filmmaker Sessions 2024. Congratulations Jack, what a star! Do yourselves a favour and watch it below, you will want to see it more than once. May we all see a warbler in central park and side step the birds pooping on tourists.

On Wednesday evening Sharon and I had the absolute pleasure of attending a reading called Straight to the Heart. We were invited by the director Alex Dmitriev, who some of you may recognise as Papa Bettinger from Bettinger's Luggage! He put together a stellar cast of other Bettinger's actors: Betsy Beutler, JJ Wilks and Sean Church-Gonzalez. We were delighted to see them shine and bring Ken Jaworoski's words to life. It was ALL THE EMOTIONS, and I have to admit I was a weird mix of emotionally drained and alive afterwards. The whole experience was amazing, I forgot there were music stands and was transported straight to the heart of the various relationships in front of us. From the bottom of my heart I hope this can become a full production, more people deserve to see this and to truly move through glee, despair, stress and happiness (plus many more, but listing all the feelings would be a bit much). Thank you for inviting us, it was a masterpiece.

To end this celebration of the AMT Theater family I want to mention Mary Lauren, our Youth Artistic Director, who is working tirelessly to bring The Prom to our stage in February. From the snippets of rehearsals I have seen and heard it is going to be spectacular! The cast are so talented and dedicated, they arrive full of energy and excitement, it is wonderful to see and I am envious of their seemingly endless energy reserves! I will focus more on The Prom as we get closer to the opening, but for now, thank you Mary Lauren for everything you are doing to make the AMT Youth Theater so super. Make sure to get your tickets now and to spread the word!