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Julie Fei-Fan Balzer |
Artistic Director |
MOST RECENT PRODUCTION: Milk Can's productions of By Oscar Micheaux and P.O.V.
I think that I can say absolutely, and without hyperbole, that these two shows were absolutely among the best that Milk Can has ever produced. I was thrilled with how P.O.V. came together -- a very ambitious idea and very well done! And, Oscar was a delight to work on. The cast was fabulous, the support staff amazing, and Cheryl (the playwright) was a fantastic cohort in crime. I really enjoyed every rehearsal and was quite pleased with the product. It was my first time working with film on stage and I'm a big fan. I'm definitely going to have to do some more of it! We wanted to begin our fifth season with a BANG and this is it! I couldn't be more proud of this company and the fact that we're really doing the kind of work we set out to do!
CURRENTLY WORKING ON: Directing a reading of Jeannine Coulombe's play, Hummingbirds and Co-writing for Milk Can's Five Borough Plays.
I'm looking forward to working on Hummingbirds. It's a beautiful little piece about the relationship between two sisters within the context of the seasons (Fall, Winter, Spring, Summer). It will be at New Georges on February 17. And, I can't believe that I'm co-writing a musical! I've drafted Colleen Darnall to write the music and we're having a lot of fun with Brooklyn.
THREE WORDS THAT DESCRIBE ME:
I'm an optimist.
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MORE ON JULIE...
Over the past eight years, Julie has directed many productions in New York City. Favorite projects include: Shakespeare's Macbeth and Twelfth Night, Eugene Ionesco's Man With Bags, Michele Aldin's 31 Bond, Shaw's Mrs. Warren's Profession, Molly Castelloe's Chastity, Ibsen's Ghosts, her own adaptation of Aristophanes' Peace, and Tom Stoppard's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead.
For The Milk Can Theatre Company, Julie directed the mainstage productions of By Oscar Micheaux, The Uncertainty Principle, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, Mushroom in Her Hands, Ashes, and Twelfth Night. Julie adapted, directed and wrote the lyrics for Milk Can's Peace, which received a 2004-2005 Innovative Theatre (IT) Award nomination for Best Production of a Musical. She also directed the Scene Herd Uddered (SHU) workshops of Life Among The Natives, Galileo, The Uncertainty Principle, Peace, Kansas Faust, Mushroom in Her Hands, and Bound as part of Milk Can's Scene Herd Uddered series. For "The Receipt Plays," Julie wrote State of the Union and directed Bethany Larsen's Lancaster County Blues. For "The Potluck Plays," Julie wrote Salad Days.
Since the 2002-2003 academic year, Julie has been a Haas Visiting Artist and the Resident Dramaturg for Wheaton College's Annual New Play Festival. Read this interview with Julie about her residency at Wheaton and on the new play process. Beginning Summer 2009, Julie will be the Artistic Director of The Wheaton Summer Repertory Company, a semi-professional residential summer theatre company at Wheaton College.
Julie is a graduate of Brown University, where she founded "Shakespeare on the Green" -- an outdoor theatre company which is still a thriving part of the Brown theatre scene. After graduation, Julie spent a year in the literary office at Trinity Repertory Company, work that she continued at Women's Project and Productions where she was also a member of their Directors' Forum.
You can check out Julie's art blog here.
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REVIEWS |
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On The Uncertainty Principle: |
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"Few playwrights can write an interesting dramatic work about Heisenberg's most famous theorem of quantum physics, which postulates that one cannot know both the position and momentum of an object with absolute precision. Even fewer writers can take such an idea and make it accessible to the audience through a moving, funny, meaningful, and relevant story. But Bethany Larsen has done both in The Uncertainty Principle...The play's themes are heady, but it's told in such a breezy style that it never feels like a chore to follow...Aided by set designer Carrie Mossman, director Julie Fei-Fan Balzer turns all of the limitations of the compact theater into creative opportunities."
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"The largely successful script is a testament to the young Milk Can Theater Company's commitment to developing new material through workshops, readings, and constructive critical dialogue with emerging playwrights...managed to build in a minimalist flexibility that worked well with Balzer's fluid staging...The Uncertainty Principle is a fun and entertaining exploration of serious themes and a refreshing reminder that existentialism and optimism don't have to be mutually exclusive. It is also, in the play's own words, a 'New York story,' a celebration of life in a city that has suffered substantial blows in the early years of the 21st century but shows no sign of giving up its high-wire act."
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On Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead: |
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"In the Milk Can Theater Company's production of Stoppard's 1966 play, action is the name of the game....Director Julie Fei-Fan Balzer shows us a northern kingdom where almost everyone is frantically trying to outrun, outfight, outscrew, or outmaneuver his own fate....the Players do the most engaging and enjoyable re-creation of Hamlet 's play-within-a-play, The Murder of Gonzago, that I have ever seen....The title of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead being what it is, the fates of the two hapless courtiers from Shakespeare's most famous tragedy should come as no surprise. But it's a testament to the production that when, as the third act begins to wane and it begins to dawn on the characters (and the audience) that death is how things will end for these two, the effect is heartbreaking."
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"There’s a production of this play just about every season somewhere off-off Broadway, and this is certainly one to have a look at for both Stoppard fans—and those who should be."
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On Mushroom in Her Hands: |
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"The Milk Can Theatre Company clearly likes a challenge...Under Julie Fei-Fan Balzer's capable direction, the actors are let loose to play. Jessi Gotta perfectly captures the innocence and impudence of 14-year-old Alice...Daryl Lathon tackles five roles and makes each his own distinct creation, stealing every scene he is in with his outrageous humor...[Carolyn McDermott] hits a grand slam with each of her four roles, most notably her hilariously hypersexual March Hare. Her deliciously inappropriate behavior makes you laugh out loud...[Costume Designer Marija Djordjevic] creates a world of brilliant imagination, and her costumes come alive. Djordjevic's Wonderland is a cross between Willy Wonka and the world of the Marquis de Sade...The Milk Can Theatre's production is a bold attempt to present something unique."
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| --offoffonline.com |
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On Ashes: |
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"The Milk Can Theatre Company's production of Ashes deserves a big 'bravo' and a longer performance run...[ Ashes ] is poignant yet humorous, and carries a dynamite cast with an identifiable message - a credit to all involved in the production. The Milk Can Theatre Company should definitely be proud of this one."
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-- BroadwayWorld.com |
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On Mrs. Warren's Profession: |
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"[T]he endeavor's genuine merit lies elsewhere, namely in the clarity of approach on the part of the director, Julie Fei-Fan Balzer, and, especially, in the performances she has coaxed out of the two strong actresses playing a pair of Shaw's most fascinating heroines...."
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-- The Irish Echo |
"The Looking Glass Theatre production of this play gracefully lives up to the high standards that Shaw's writing has created and offers a delightful evening of pithy remarks and smart one-liners while critiquing important social issues."
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-- Show Business Weekly |
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On Twelfth Night: |
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"[T]he whole production...has as much fun with a classic comedy as one can imagine...Many of Balzer's innovations are delightful...the cast's energy and Balzer's deft direction make this a Twelfth Night that's a treat, enjoyable both for its modern silliness and its easy handling of Shakespeare's complicated plot."
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-- TheatreScene.net |
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On 31 Bond: |
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"What ever you do you cannot miss 31 Bond. This could well be the best off-Broadway play of the season!"
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-- BrooklynOnline.com |
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On Man With Bags: |
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"[T]he result was an entertaining and resonant evening, full of freshness and pleasant surprises, as well as the occasional shock of recognition. Aristotle would have been proud."
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--Off Off Broadway Review |
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