Category: News and Events

How to Live Forever at Madison New Works Lab

I’m so pumped to head to Virginia in August to visit James Madison University and workshop my play HOW TO LIVE FOREVER with the students there! I have already had several affirming and artistically exciting conversations with the team at JMU, and I just cannot wait to bring this play to life.

HOW TO LIVE FOREVER was my thesis play at Carnegie Mellon in 2019, way back when it was a dinky little 60-minute 3-person excursion into what’s possible with time travel and gender. With the generous developmental support of director Nora Gair, it’s morphed into a 2-act epic for double the actors.

I’ve been dreaming of tackling this new version of the play for a long time, and I am giddy with excitement to get started!

ABRUPTLY, AUSTEN at Soaring Gardens

Just got back from the wonderful Soaring Gardens Artist Retreat, where I developed my SEVEN adaptations of Jane Austen’s ouvre for puppets with my good friend and collaborator D.T. Burns. We not only developed the scripts, but also built over 80 puppets and shot videos of the plays, which will be forthcoming on your internet machine to watch in 2023!

Look what we did!

For Austen-themed jokes, follow us on Twitter!

For more info on the project, check out our silly little website!

THE BEGINNING OF EVERYTHING at Hollywood Fringe

I simply cannot wait to see my 5-minute opera, THE BEGINNING OF EVERYTHING: A LOVE STORY, composed by Joshua Brown, presented in animated form with a live singer at this year’s Hollywood Fringe Festival.

New Opera West will feature THE BEGINNING OF EVERYTHING along with two other video projects at a two-night event at the Hudson Guild Theatre. Tickets are free, drinks are complimentary, and both evenings will be followed by a brief talkback with the artists (including me) – so come hang out!

This piece was animated by the talented Ankita Panda, and will have live vocals by Maria Lindsey. New Opera West will also release the animation in a digital format, with vocals by Colleen McGovern.

Alter Ego Chamber Opera Commission: NASRIN – CENSORED

So excited to be developing this new opera with Ramin Akhavijou, who I also worked with on CMU’s Co-Opera at Pittsburgh Opera. We will be headed to Philadelphia in the spring to workshop NASRIN – CENSORED with the support of Alter Ego Chamber Opera, who will produce it in the fringe festival in fall 2022. I have been learning a lot about the incredible work of real-life heroine Nasrin Sotoudeh, and I’m big-time inspired to write this opera about her. Can’t wait for all my Philly folks to check it out.

New Opera West Will Feature THE BEGINNING OF EVERYTHING

As part of their ’21-22 season, New Opera West is presenting an animated version of an opera I wrote with my super talented and awesome friend Joshua Brown! Here’s a blurb of the show:

In icy solitude, The Universe waits. Until one day, she’s shaken from her torpor by the sudden explosive arrival of…well…everything. THE BEGINNING OF EVERYTHING is a joyful meditation on discovering a new way of seeing things in the moment that “me” becomes “us.”

You can read more about this show and New Opera West’s production of it here.

I hope you’ll check it out! It’s short, exists on your computer, and the music is incredible! The entire opera is performed solo by mellifluous soprano Colleen McGovern, who sings the part like…well…the only soprano in the universe.

Houston Chronicle Calls EVERYBODY’S DEAD “Brilliant” “Potent” and “Immensely Funny”

Not to toot my own horn.

I’m delighted to share that Mildred’s Umbrella’s FemFest Houston was recently featured in American Theatre Magazine, which made me feel fancy enough!

I’m beyond overjoyed to share that, after it’s premiere on Monday, EVERYBODY’S DEAD: A COMEDY also received a glowing review from the Chronicle’s freelance critic Bridgette M. Redman.

Redman praises the script as a “a potent play about the pandemic,” that never mentions “the words “pandemic,” “virus” or “COVID-19.”’ She also waxes poetic about my play’s obsession with sex:

One of Carie’s strengths is capturing the absurdity of sex, weaving passion into the human foibles that often make the ultimate act of intimacy look ridiculous. The idea of sex dominates people’s thoughts and the desire for it sometimes makes them behave in embarrassing and awkward ways. All this Carie captures in her brilliant script.

Thank you VERY much!

She also (rightly) praises the performances of a fabulous cast and the considered direction of my genius friend and beloved collaborator, Dana Bowman.

You can read the full review here!

Tickets to the show are still available through June 3: get those here.

EVERYBODY’S DEAD: A COMEDY Streams With Mildred’s Umbrella Through June 3

I’m delighted to share that my play EVERYBODY’S DEAD: A COMEDY is the first of 3 plays to be presented as part of Mildred’s Umbrella’s fourth annual Femfest Houston! It is a semi-staged digital reading, directed by Dana Bowman and starring Courtney Lomelo, Rhett Martinez, and Jasmine Thomas, with video editing by Catherine Denniston.

I’m beyond delighted with this script and this team, and hope you will sign up for your free (donations appreciated) tickets and support this wonderful woman-run theatre company!

Tickets are simple to sign up for and get you a link to stream the play any time between now and June 3, when it will close.

Tickets available here.