The "Wonders" Of Old Movie Palaces In Queens And Brooklyn

One of my favorite movie-related blogs, Scouting NY, has an incredible post up this week about the old Paramount movie palace in downtown Brooklyn that was converted to a student center for Long Island University. Though the school turned the main auditorium space into a basketball court/gym, they also retained a great deal of the decorative features of the grand lobby and the ornate lounges. There are some remarkable before/after photos on the post which compare the grand luxury of the Paramount back in the day, to its more low-key quirkiness today. But some of the details, like etched mirrors and face casts on the ceiling, are very cool to see....mainly for the fact they are still there!

In a previous post this year, ScoutingNY took a Sunday afternoon tour of another repurposed movie palace on Jamaica Avenue in Queens. It was actually one of the five Loew's Wonder theaters in NY/NJ, all of which have remarkably survived. I have been to the one in Jersey City across from the PATH train which was pretty impressive. But this one takes the ornate-cake. It's Spanish-Moorish theming is totally over the top and has been completely preserved as it was when the theatre was in its heydey. The reason is that it was donated to a church group which regularly has services in the auditorium which holds 3,000-plus people. The photos are really incredible and reminded me of the Tampa Theatre in Florida (where I screened WTC VIEW and POOL DAYS) which has the same faux-Spanish village open-to-the-sky feeling inside. 

I can only imagine what it must have been like to see films in such a luxurious setting. Maybe even bad movies would have seemed good!  :)  Regardless, it would certainly have been an improvement over today's generic stadium-seating boxes. 

Goodbye, WTC View....Hello, Astoria

First, my apologies as writing on the blog here has been spotty lately. But the reason is that I've been busy working on a major life transition. After weeks of planning and packing, today is my last day in my apartment in Greenwich Village. An opportunity came up to have a place of my own in Queens so I am heading out of Manhattan and losing my "WTC View", featured in both the play and film I wrote of the same name. 

However, to be honest, I actually lost that view on 9/11...the new World Trade Center cannot be seen from my bedroom window like the last one could, as its location is now slightly to the west of where the old twin towers were. I can see One WTC though, when I leave my apartment directly at the end of Sullivan Street (here's a pic I took yesterday). I was skeptical about the new tower at first but have to admit that it now looks amazing. And, fittingly enough, they topped it out a couple weeks ago and just finished the facade work last week. So, as I leave my apartment, it's complete...at least on the exterior.  

I am making the move from the Village to Astoria, where I have a new place that has more space and even a backyard. It will be a big change after all these years in the Village. I moved here in 1989 to attend NYU film school and lived in 3 different apartments all within a roughly 4 block radius of each other. So I've been in the hood more than 23 years! But I'm excited for my new neighborhood and my new borough too. I'm now only a few blocks from the famed Kaufman Astoria studio (one of the first film backlots of the silent era), which is now home to lots of film/TV production (including SESAME STREET!). It also houses the Museum of the Moving Image, which has a wonderful cinema and repertory schedule which I look forward to checking out.

For those who want to contact me, my email and phone remains the same (though no more landline,  not that anyone would notice!).  The address has changed so if you have any housewarming gifts (!) or Christmas letters, drop me an email and I'll send the details. And I'm a 15 minute subway ride from midtown so visiting is easy. Anyway, the NYC adventure continues as I move on up, to the far east side ;) Thanks for the memories, Manhattan! 

Someone Made A Music Video Of My Film WTC VIEW

If you happen to make a movie, these days it can often end up on YouTube with "tribute" videos where people clip their favorite scenes together with a song they like. It helps if you have cute boys in your films too as people have done some videos of my films POOL DAYS and I THINK I DO (now removed by the distributor) featuring cute guys smiling or shirtless. I never thought my post-9/11 drama WTC VIEW would get this sort of treatment. But I was wrong.

Trusty Google Alerts led me to this video with a song about a window as the soundtrack. The song, by a group called Double O Zero, is catchy and appropriate given that the window of Eric's apartment is a central focal point of the film (due to its former view of the World Trade Center).  It's nicely edited by a "Alex O'Dogherty" who has done a bunch of these and features all of my film's smiling and shirtlessness, of course. I often tell people that WTC VIEW is not the film about 9/11 they may expect and this video definitely proves that point!

It almost reminds me of those music videos popular in the 80's where a band would play a song from a big Hollywood movie on a soundstage that would be intercut with scenes from the movie (see ST. ELMO'S FIRE). Except here, there is no band which is too bad. I'm curious to know more about this group and the somewhat mysterious person who put this all together.

A Year Of Progress At The World Trade Center Site

These are two photos I took of the new World Trade Center tower one year apart, on 9/11/11 and 9/11/12. It shows the remarkable progress that has been made with the new tower, which recently topped out at the 110th floor.

Meanwhile, other progress that is not as visible was announced just this week. The construction on the museum, which has been halted for a year due to a dispute between the Port Authority, the city, and the foundation building the museum will start up again after an agreement was reached regarding finances.

Though this year's commemoration of the attack is much more subdued than last years 10th anniversary, this news is the best way to honor the nearly 3,000 people who lost their lives that day. The museum, which will tell their story and the story of that fateful day, is now scheduled to open in 2014.

Getting Close To The Top Of The World

Yesterday was a crystal-clear spring day in New York. When I was walking home for lunch, I turned onto my street and noticed a beam being raised into place a thousand feet in the air at the top of the new 1 World Trade Center building.  The clarity of the steel beams against the blue sky was remarkable, especially after a week when the tower was covered in clouds, fog and rain. So I snapped a few photos which I've posted below.

The pictures came out incredibly blue but that's not just due to the sky. I had just been shooting some video indoors with the same camera and had it on the incandescent setting.  But, in a way, it ended up as an interesting, if unintentional, stylistic choice.

Though there is a new controversy over what it's official height will be, construction workers are getting very close to the top of the structure.  The new WTC is set to top out next month. Yet already the new building has claimed its space in the downtown skyline, balancing out the lower end of the island while providing a new "due south" to help people get their bearings in the urban jungle of Manhattan.

The Return Of A Missing Child Mystery To My Neighborhood

Yesterday on my way home from the subway, I was surprised to see all these police cars and FBI vans parked on Prince Street with barricades blocking the road. Just a few blocks from my apartment, a missing child mystery more than 3 decades old was back in the news as the search was on for remains in a building that is now a fashionable Lucky jeans store.

The NY Times has an interesting article today which talks not so much about this missing case but the neighborhood itself and how it has been radically transformed in the 33 years since Etan Patz disappeared in his way to the bus. They describe how it was quiet area, filled with artists and machinists and not high end tourists. At night, it was apparently so empty that couples would have sex in darkened doorways. My favorite quote from an old timer in the hood: "It wasn't seedy. The docs were sleazy. [Soho] was gritty." Okay!

As investigators dig into the basement at 127B Prince, they are (as they article points out) digging into the neighborhood's quiet and almost small-town past.  In my play WTC VIEW, one character reminisces about playing football on Broadway in the '70s...a speech that was based on a recollection of someone who grew up here back when it was, well, a neighborhood.  Even when I got here, 20 some years ago, it had that feel, especially on my block which was filled with old Italians and Portuguese families.  Anyway, I find it interesting to see how much has changed and how the reopening of this tragic case is bringing all of that into relief.

Two Actors From WTC VIEW On Broadway

Lucas Papaelias, who played "Kevin" in my second feature film WTC VIEW, made his Broadway debut last night in the new musical ONCE.  ONCE is an adaptation of the musical film by the same name which came out to much acclaim (and even an Academy Award) back in 2006. Lucas, who is a talented musician in addition to being a fantastic actor, was in the original production of the show last fall at New York Theatre Workshop.  

Lucas now joins Michael Urie, who played "Eric", as the second cast member from my little indie film currently on the Great White Way! Michael joined the HOW TO SUCCEED IN BUSINESS last month, playing "Bud Frump" opposite Darren Criss and now Nick Jonas.  

It's a thrill for me as I've known both these actors for a while and it's so amazing to see them just keep getting better while also getting bigger and bigger stages on which to perform.  I met Lucas in 2000 when he starred in a one-act play of mine called SEX AND THE ONE ACT, which won best play at the CenterStage One Act Festival.  I met Michael a year later, after seeing him in a production of LOVE AND HAPPINESS at Barrington Stage Company. That show was directed by Andrew Volkoff who went on the direct WTC in it's Fringe festival debut and off-Broadway last year at 59E59 Theaters.  

Anyway, congrats to them both!  And if you're looking for great theatre this spring, I urge you to check out these shows.  

Michael Urie Makes His Broadway Debut In HOW TO SUCCEED

Michael Urie, who starred in the original stage production of my play WTC VIEW as well as the film adaptation too, is now making the leap to Broadway.  He made his debut on the Great White Way this Tuesday, playing the role of Bud Frump in HOW TO SUCCEED IN BUSINESS WITHOUT REALLY TRYING.  He jumps into the show along with Nick Jonas, who is taking over for Daniel Radcliffe who originated the lead in this revival.

I chatted with Michael earlier this week about his big debut and posted a short story about it on Queerty too.  Michael also sent me a link to a fun video he and Nick did about how well they've got to know each other as they've been rehearsing together all month for stepping into their roles.  So congrats to Michael for the next big step in his acting career.  Break a leg! :)

Is WTC VIEW A True Story? Here's My Answer...

Since our first performance back in 2003, people have been asking me if WTC VIEW, my play about life in NYC after 9/11, is a true story.  I was recently asked to write an essay for my friend Ira Sach's website about "Art & Autobiography" on this topic.  Ira put together this website over the summer as part of the promotion for his own autobiographical film, KEEP THE LIGHTS ON, which is currently in post-production.

I have always found it interesting how people are fascinated by whether or not a work of fiction is true or not.  So I was eager to write about this topic, especially in relation to WTC VIEW.  This was a play (and then film) I wrote about a guy who places a roommate ad on the night before 9/11 looking for a roommate in lower Manhattan.  On 9/10/01, I placed a roommat ad for my apartment on the VILLAGE VOICE website and this was the starting point for this work.  But is the story autobiographical?  Not in the way that people would expect.

So please check out my article on "Art & Autobiography", which posted today. Also, take a look around the rest of the site as well.  Ira has put together some amazing writers and historical pieces about gay life in New York City, all of which are worth reading.

My Play WTC VIEW Is Being Published

Earlier this year, WTC VIEW, my play about life in NYC after 9/11, had its off-Broadway premiere at 59E59 Theaters in midtown. We had an amazing run with many sold-out houses, some great reviews, a feature in the NY Times and, in the end, it turned out that we were the highest grossing show in that theatre since it opened in 2004!

Now, WTC VIEW is going to be officially published by Dramatists Play Service, or DPS. They are the leading publisher of new plays and musicals in the U.S. and they will also be handling licensing for the show for future amateur and professional productions.  This is great news because the main reason we wanted to get the play out again was to get it out to a wider audience.  Now, theatre companies across the country will have the chance to put on their own productions of the show. It will be available in a bound "actor's edition" by the end of the year....and I will post details when that happens. 

Also, in the online realm, WTC VIEW has just become available on a new and unique website called Indie Theatre Now. Described by founder Martin Denton as "Netflix for plays", this service allows users to download a number of plays for a set fee...it varies depending on how many plays you want. It's another great way to help get the show out into the world and, already, it has garnered some attention for a possible international production next year!  Kudos to Mr. Denton for spreading the word about the vibrant Indie Theatre community here in New York.  

We Interrupt This Blog....

Hi all--so the last month or so has been a bit of a whirlwind with the play WTC VIEW wrapping up and the movie AUGUST opening at film festivals.  Anyway, after a month of travel and film festivals and general excitement, I plan to be back on track with the daily postings here this week.  Sorry about the bloggus interruptus but sometimes life and work just get in the way.  :)

Finally, in movie news, AUGUST has its NYC premieres this Friday and Saturday at NewFest....tix are still available so come check it out this weekend!

WTC Fundraiser Book BLUE SKY--Just 5 Copies Left!

For WTC VIEW Onstage at 59E59 Theaters, I put together a limited edition photobook that was on sale as a fundraiser at the theater to help raise money for our show.  Now that run has wrapped up, I have just a few copies left of the book which I'm selling to finish paying off all our bills.

The book, BLUE SKY, is a collection of photos I've taken over the last decade of blue skies, echoing that magnificent sky over New York City on the morning of September 11th. The book is a beautifully bound, hardcover, 40 pages long with more than 60 full-color images.  I have also signed each copy on the frontis page as well. Above is a picture of the book and below are some images featured in its pages.

The book costs just $40, which includes shipping too.  If you're interested in purchasing one, just write an email to "me@briansloan.com" for details.  You can pay by check or PayPal, whichever is most convenient.  Thanks again for your support of WTC VIEW....it was a great success!

Washington DC, 2003

Jones Beach, 2006

Playland, 2009

Palm Springs, 2002   

                                                           Lower Manhattan, 2008

WTC VIEW featured in the NY TIMES Theater Section

There was a lovely feature article about WTC VIEW in the NY TIMES yesterday (accompanied by this lovely picture too!).  The piece was written by Erik Piepenberg, who interviewed me and the director Andrew Volkoff along with Nick Lewis (who plays ERIC) and Leah Curney (who plays JOSIE).  He wrote about how the show is a period piece now and, as such, is more able to be experienced as a play rather than "documentary theatre".  Actually, that has been the driving force in this production for me and Andrew; to go back to the material and really look at it as a play, since we're somewhat removed now from being so close to all the raw emotion of the 9/11 attacks.

Also today, we have our first official review in this morning, over at Backstage magazine.  It's a great notice for the show and especially our incredibly talented cast.  There will be more reviews coming this week and I will try to link to them in a larger post on Friday.  In the meantime, we had a sold out house for our official "press opening", after only 4 previews....take that SPIDERMAN! :)  Seating is limited but tix are still available online at www.59e59.org and the run is currently set to end on June 5th.  Hope to see you there!

The Window Is Ready For WTC VIEW's First Performance

This is a picture from our set for WTC VIEW. This is the window which features the said view in the show.  I shot this yesterday after our final dress rehearsal. It's not, however, one of our actors but Brian Prather, our set designer who put the whole thing together along with his students up at Ithaca College. It has all turned out beautifully.

Today is our first public performance of the show up at 59E59 Theaters, with showtime at 7:30pm.  It's very exciting after 7 years to have reached this point of the show's off-Broadway premiere.  Everyone on this production has worked so hard to make it all come together, namely our director Andrew Volkoff and the incredibly talented cast of actors who are bringing new life to this show.

Our official press opening night is Tuesday May 24th. To those in the NYC area, I hope you can come see the show. It is truly something special.  Tickets are still available at www.59e59.org for our 3 week run, though we have a couple nights that are already sold it. I will be attending all the shows this weekend and our opening on the 24th. We also have talkbacks with me and Andrew after the shows on the 25th and 1st.  Hope to see you there!

NEXT, The New Yorker & Other Press Hits For WTC VIEW @ 59E59

We got some press hitting today, namely a listing in The New Yorker's "Goings On About Town".  That was amazing!

We also got a great write up in NEXT magazine's current issue, which has a nice picture of me and our two male leads, Nick Lewis (right) and Patrick Edward O'Brien.  This was based on an interview I did with Dan Avery, the magazine's Senior Editor which happened the day after Osama was killed. We talked about the effect that would have on references in to Bin Laden in the show but how I decided not make changes to those references as the play is squarely set in the last week of September 2001.  No editorializing from the future...

We also got a listing in The Advocate from Brandon Voss, who put WTC VIEW on his Hot Sheet of the top 10 things in entertainment on his radar this week. These mentions have double our ticket sales in the last 24 hours. So if you want to see the show, I encourage you to get your seats now.....only 18$ and selling fast.  They're available online at www.59e59.org/next.html.

WTC VIEW in the NY TIMES Sunday Arts Section

I meant to put this up yesterday but got distracted by the exciting news in Ireland.  Anyway, over the weekend, WTC VIEW made the NY TIMES Sunday Arts section as part of a roundup of hot summer theatre happening across the country this year.  If you click here, just scroll down to the section about New York City and we got a nice mention.

In other WTC news, we got our poster/postcard art last week which looks great.  Tickets are now on sale for the run of the show....there are only 16 performances and seating in the theatre is limited (see "off-Broadway"). So if you're interested, I would encourage you to purchase your tickets soon at 59E59's website.  We will have a bunch of press coming out next week so this way you can avoid the rush!

Rehearsals for the show are continuing "every amazing day" (as Alex says) over in Long Island City while our set is being built upstate.  So it's all coming together!  Look forward to seeing it....and YOU at the theatre later this month  :)

The Final Countdown For Crowd-Sourcing On WTC VIEW

Today is the final day of our crowd-sourcing campaign on IndieGoGo to bring WTC VIEW to the stage this spring at 59E59 Theaters. The good news is that we have raised nearly 10K in the last 6 weeks.  The bad news is that we still need to raise another 10-12K to make the show happen.  But the good news is....time has not run out yet!  We still have until midnight Friday April 22....which is actually 3AM because IndieGoGo runs on PST (based on Seattle, of course).  So you can still donate!

Even better news is that, this morning, we got a matching fund challenge.  A generous donor has pledged 3K if we can raise 3K today.  That means we need to get to the 12K level in the final hours of our campaign.  And that's not so hard really if you break it down.  All we need are 150 donors giving $20 a piece.  Or 300 donors giving $10.   So much math right?!   It's all about the numbers...today at least.  But next week I'll have some very exciting news about our cast for the show, which will be officially announced on Monday.

In the meantime, check out our final video for the campaign on IndieGogo....my tour of the area around the new World Trade Center complex rising in lower Manhattan.  Thanks for your support! :)

WTC VIEW Playwright Brian Sloan's Walking Tour Of The New WTC from Brian Sloan on Vimeo.

A Walking Tour Of The World Trade Center Site

As part of our crowd-sourcing campaign on IndieGoGo, which wraps up on Friday, I did a little walking tour of the area around the World Trade Center site.  It's remarkable how much construction is going on there and how rapidly the memorial and museum are taking shape.

After years of debate and delay, there is no denying that things are really changing down there now.  The next big step is the opening of the memorial itself, on September 11th of this year, which will be the 10th anniversary of 9/11.  So check out my tour and please donate to our campaign to put my play WTC VIEW back on stage....only 4 days left!  Thanks :)

WTC VIEW Playwright Brian Sloan's Walking Tour Of The New WTC from Brian Sloan on Vimeo.

My VILLAGE VOICE Ad & True Story Behind WTC VIEW

I was recently rummaging through some old files and found something remarkable; a copy of the apartment listing I placed in the VILLAGE VOICE on the night of September 10, 2001.  My previous roommate had moved out on August 15th and I had been lazy....spending time at the beach when I should have been finding a new roommate.  As the 15th approached, I decided that Monday I would try to get someone to move in later that week.  So I went online and placed the ad. It was the last thing I did that night before I went to bed.

The ad went live on the VOICE website in the early morning hours of 9/11 and, believe it or not, I actually got calls about my apartment on September 12th from people wanting to "come down and see the place".  Of course, unless they were in the National Guard, they could not get into my neighborhood as it was in the Frozen Zone south of 14th Street that was set up after the destruction of the World Trade Center. When the ad appeared in the print edition of the VOICE on 9/17 (pictured above), I got even more calls and thus began my longest search for a roommate, one which would not be resolved until November.

As a writer, people always wonder if my writing is autobiographical and, in the case of the play, I started with this strange but true story and went from there.  I thought it would be a good starting point for a play that takes a different look at 9/11 and how it affected New York City, specifically those living downtown.  This story of this ad is the true story behind my play WTC VIEW, which opens next month here in NYC.

The title of the play, however, does not come from my original ad.  It came from a conversation with my previous roommate, who remarked as he was moving out how I could put "WTC View" in the ad as a selling point.  He though the view was amazing.  However, even though I liked the view too, I told him that no one puts that in apartment ads....Empire State View means something but WTC View doesn't mean anything, real estate wise.  The Twin Towers were sort of taken for granted until, only a few weeks later, they were gone.

Tickets On Sale Today For WTC VIEW's Off-Bway Premiere

Tickets are on sale today for the return of WTC VIEW to the stage!  The show will open on May 19th at 59E59 Theaters as part of their 5th Annual Americas Festival.  This is a grouping of 7 plays that are original works by new American playwrights...like me! :)

WTC VIEW will be running from May 19-June 5 for a total of 16 performances. Tickets at $18 each and are available through 59E59's website.  You can also purchase seats at TicketCenter.  For more details on the show, please check out our Facebook page and LIKE it as well.  And, of course, we are still in the midst of our big fundraising drive for the show.

We have only 17 days left to raise about 20K....the key to crowd-sourcing is that everyone gives a little instead of a few fat cats giving a lot.  This is a non-profit production at a non-profit theatre and this is the only way we can make this show happen...other than winning the lottery. So please donate if you can and help us bring this show to audiences here in New York this spring.