Ross Peabody is the co-Managing Director of Feed The Herd, one of NYC's hottest theater companies. Currently, FTH is producing Doppleganger, a hypermedia performance piece that radically redefines the boundaries of live theater. It's a can't-miss kind of show, so click below to snag yourself a $5 tix!
NOW PLAYING:
07/13/07 @ 8:00 p.m.
07/14/07 @ 8:00 p.m.
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Sure, Broadway's got glam, with its big-budget values and full-page ads in The Times. And yeah, Lincoln Center's cornered the market on offering thousands of great performances. But before the big name stars saw their names in lights, they started small. After all, Jonathan Larson (Rent) once had shows downtown in the Village, and Savion Glover (Bring in 'da Noise/Bring in 'da Funk and "Happy Feet") spent hours in Manhattan dance studios before getting his big break. Artists of all stripes come to NYC in hopes of becoming the Next Big Thing -- and you can catch them on the way up.
High 5's got hundreds of shows from great artists who are itching to be discovered -- and that's why we invite them into the Q-Box, a place where an artist or performer fields a few questions that give you an insider's look at soon-to-be stars. Check out the Q-Box for extra info on a High 5 show -- then head out and catch the Next Big Thing!
In the Q-Box: Ross Peabody
Doppelganger translated from the German means "the bilocation of one's self," a potentially heady concept that playwright Simon Heath mines to the fullest in his new play of the same name. The play opens with one man, Frank, divided, quite literally -- in the same instant Frank is plummeting to death from a fall from his office building, he's also in the midst of a affair with a co-worker. Time and space play tricks on both player and audience in this haunting new work where existence and identity are explored in the search for understanding.
Doppleganger's producer, Ross Peabody, stepped into the Q-Box for us to answer a few questions about all that and more!
What's the thing you love most about Doppleganger?
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Two things can happen at once, huh? Two things can happen at once, oh. Yes, two things can happen at once.
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What was the first show you ever saw?
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I remember the Buddy Holly Story when I was 14 in DC at the Kennedy Center. Seriously. I stayed in theater even though my first experience was with Gary Busey playing Buddy Holly. Oh, Maybe, Baby.
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Before a show, do you have any opening night rituals?
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Am I allowed to say that I just drink a lot of coffee? Um...I mean, weeks of warm up, preparation and research, of course.
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What are the craziest performance conditions you've ever worked under?
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We did a three week run in the basement of a punk-rock dive bar. The show was about a high school kid who was in love, and possibly, also a super hero. I don't think it's okay for me to tell anyone what I saw happen in that place...uck.
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What was your favorite performance?
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Of my own show? In 1999, we did a show at HERE Performing Arts Center in July in the middle of a heat wave. The AC was busted. Maybe bad for the audience, but I had a cast of 13 that were all on stage for the entire 45 minutes of the show, running around like crazy people, and our lighting designer had designed the show so that EVERY LIGHT WE HAD was on nearly the entire time. One actor was so hot that by the end of the show, he had stripped down to only his boxers. In character, of course. Oh, the good old days.
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What was the last show you saw?
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Not including Doppelganger, 31Down's show Universal Robots. It had a wood stove that talked. Really, it was like watching live-action Disney for adults.
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What's the next thing you plan on seeing?
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I don't want to sound like too much of a geek, but I really want to see Spring Awakening.
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What's up next in your Netflix queue?
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My girlfriend owns our queue. So next is Desperate Housewives, Season Two, Disc Three. But what I can't wait for is Number 12: V: The Original Miniseries.
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What's in heavy rotation on your iPod right now?
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Lots of Xiu Xiu. Lots of Serge Gainsbourg. The Descendents. Coco Rosie. A little Cat Power...just for flair.
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What's your favorite NYC spot?
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Does home count? Umm...3LD Art and Technology Center, where Doppelganger is playing. Is it okay to plug the show?
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What's your favorite Tom Waits song?
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Jeeeeeeeez, you're killing me. Anything on swordfishtrombone. Alice. "Bats are in the Belfry." "Diamonds on My Windshield." "Coney Island Baby." "Downtown Train" (really). I could go on....
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What would your Hogwarts House be...and why?
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I'd love to say Griffendor (wouldn't everybody?) but this quiz tells me otherwise.
*sigh* Hufflepuff it is, then:
Why? Because the quiz said so after ten in-depth deeply personal multiple-choice questions, silly.
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If there was a celebrity death-match between Hamlet and Othello, who'd win?
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Othello. Hamlet would be too busy soliloquizing about what his win or loss would cost the world, while the military moor would be busy dispensing some serious jealousy-fueled justice on the pale Dane's um...backside.
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THE STATS:
Title/Role: Producer
Show: Doppleganger
Company: Feed The Herd
Venue: 3LD Art & Technology Center
Performance Dates: July 13 through July 29
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