New York University

New York University

The Office of Public Affairs

Thursday, Oct 16, 2008

N-99, 2008-09

When referring to New York City, who hasn’t heard the phrase, “if you can make it here, you can make it anywhere?” Behind the Scenes @ Tisch (BtS), a new initiative for alumni of the Tisch School of the Arts (TSOA) at New York University, plans to put the well-known saying to the test.

TSOA Dean’s Council member Elizabeth Hemmerdinger, an’03 MFA alumna of the Goldberg Department of Dramatic Writing, and the Tisch East Alumni Association are on a mission to give the next generation of playwrights a forum to stage its work and connect to an audience of industry professionals.

The BtS program will hold annual calls for entry for TSOA alumni to submit one-act plays for review by a panel of industry experts and other prominent TSOA alumni. With the mentorship of playwright and TSOA arts professor Eduardo Machado, selected playwrights will take part in an annual festival where the plays will be presented to a public audience as staged readings.

“Behind the Scenes is a way for NYU to continue to fulfill its commitment to the artistic life of its alumni,” said Machado, who is also the artistic director of INTAR (International Arts Relations, Inc.). BtS founders hope that the new initiative will become an influential proving ground in the New York theatre scene.

To kick off its inaugural year, BtS will present a staged reading for an invited audience of a new play by veteran playwright Neena Beber (Jump/Cut, The Dew Point, Hard Feelings, Thirst, A Common Vision, and Tomorrowland), an’89 MFA alumna of the Goldberg Department of Dramatic Writing. The reading is on November 10 at the Cherry Lane Theater. For additional information, contact: Frederick A. Bush, director of Development and Alumni Relations for TSOA, at 212-998-6954.