Category Archives: Fashion

Reporter Girl at the Comic Book Theater Festival June 3-12.

Posted on June 5, 2011 | Leave a comment

I’ve been too busy writing my play to actually promote what we are doing here, but below is the official press release. What is being presented is the first half of a completely new version of my full-length play Reporter Girl. Erica Gould, the director, talked me into re-writing my entire script from scratch, which I have done in just three weeks. This has been an insane creative time…and although the time was short, the results are absolutely amazing.  The performances are “on book” but there is lights, sounds, props, some set elements and costumes

Reporter Girl by Laura Rohrman

Reporter Girl by Laura Rohrman

that will help you image what this play would be like fully staged. We would love feedback and are having a talk back after every performance.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Press Contact: Lanie Zipoy | lanie.zipoy@gmail.com | 646.399.8650 Festival Press Contact: Emily Owens PR | emily@emilyowenspr.com | 972.743.3746
WAVERLY WRITERS COLLECTIVE Presents a workshop production of REPORTER GIRL as part of The Comic Book Theater Festival
J une 2 – July 1, 2011 at the Brick Theater (575 Metropolitan Ave.) Performances: Friday, June 3rd at 8:45 pm; Sunday, June 5th at 4:00 pm; and Sunday, June 12 at 8:00 pm
New York, NY (May 31, 2011) – Reporter Girl is Laura Rohrman’s full-length play about cartoonist Dale Messick, who created of the famous cartoon strip Brenda Starr Reporter in 1940. Directed by Erica Gould (world premiere of Neil LaBute’s autobahn), the play weaves together a narrative that spans four decades and includes family history, actual cartoon strip plotlines and characters, and most important of all — fantasy—to create a portrait of an artist as a creator and woman. Reporter Girl is a sexy re-imagining of Messick’s life in the 1940’s as her career was taking off. Messick broke through countless barriers and paved the way for other female cartoonists who came after her. She did this not just for cartoonists, but also for women in all professions around the world. She created a sexy heroine who didn’t need a man at a time when most women stayed home to be housewives and raise kids.
Reporter Girl examines what creativity really means and what Messick may have given up to get what she always dreamed of. The play also explores how this dream of getting what you want affects not just her granddaughter, but women around the world. Reporter Girl has been a Weissberger Award nominee, a Princess Grace and O’Neill Finalist among other awards. Laura Rohrman, the playwright, is the maternal granddaughter of Dale Messick.
The cast of Reporter Girl features Julia Crockett, Amy Dickenson, Meghan Grady, Kate Grimes, Chad Hoeppner, Betty Hudson, and Richard Thieriot. The production team includes Alexis Distler (scenic design), Evan Truesdale (lighting design) and Scott O’Brien (sound design). The assistant director is Blake Bishton.
Reporter Girl will perform Friday, June 3rd at 8:45pm; Sunday, June 5th at 4:00pm; and Sunday, June 12th at 8:00pm as part of The Comic Book Theater Festival at The Brick (575 Metropolitan Avenue between Union Avenue and Lorimer Street, Brooklyn). Tickets ($15) may be purchased online at www.bricktheater.com or by calling 866-811-4111.
The Waverly Writers Collective is a young, diverse group of talented, award-winning playwrights, directors, actors and producers whose work attempts to shine a light on the world in which they live. The company was founded in 2003 by Laura Rohrman and Aurin Squire, who both studied playwriting at The New School for Drama in New York City. The Waverly Writers Collective has produced 30 new plays and 12 new playwrights including: Carla Ching, Bekah Brunstetter and David Caudle. Productions include: 9 x 9 (2003), Two Guys and a Girl (2004), Babies Bombs and Love (2005). Co-productions: My Life As You (2006) and Femme Feast (2009). The group’s mission is to create new and exciting opportunities for emerging and established artists.
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LAURA ROHRMAN (Playwright) Playwriting credits include: Reporter Girl, a finalist for multiple awards including: The O’Neill Festival, The Weissberger Award and The Princess Grace Fellowship, and My Life As You a 2006 Playwrights First finalist that had a sold-out production NYC production starring the Emmy nominated Jeff Branson. NYITA Judges called the play “A great evening with smart and funny writing.” In addition to being a two- time finalist for The Samuel French short play festival, her plays have been produced and developed at many theaters around New York City and elsewhere. Her plays have been selected for readings and productions with the following theaters: Second Stage Theater, The Vital Theater, Manhattan Theatre Source, Emerging Artists Theater, Rising Sun Theatre, The Looking Glass Theater and Native Aliens Theater Collective. Outside of New York her work has been developed and produced with The American Conservatory Theater, Diva Fest (San Francisco) and The Lost Theater Festival in London, UK where here play Below 14th was called “Brilliantly funny” by adjudicator Adrian Brown. Her work has been developed with help from The Actors Studio Drama School/The New School For Drama, Vital R&D, RCL Writer’s Group, The Fold and The Emerging Artists Theater. Laura has an MFA in Playwriting and Acting from The New School for Drama in New York City. She is a member of The Dramatist Guild. http://www.laurarohrman.com, http://www.thepopcycle.com
ERICA GOULD’s (Director) directing credits include the world premiere production of Neil LaBute’s autobahn and the premiere of LaBute’s one-acts, Sound Check, and Stand Up with Mos Def (MCC); What Light From Darkness Grows (for NPR with Phylicia Rashad, Harry Lennix – Golden Reel and Gracie Allen Awards); The Minotaur by Anna Ziegler with Mario Cantone, Jill Clayburgh, and Campbell Scott (The Fire Dept/Players Club); As You Like It (Shakespeare Theatre/ACA, DC); Troilus and Cressida (NY Stage and Film); the new musical Max and the Truffle Pig (NYMF); Adopt a Sailor with Sam Waterston and Liev Schreiber (Brave New World, Town Hall); Ms. Gould’s adaptation of Milorad Pavic’s Dictionary of the Khazars (Culture Project, Williamstown, Yale); The Rover (Bank Street Theatre); SpeakEasy, a site-specific theater piece by LaBute, Theresa Rebeck, Rajiv Joseph, others (Joe’s Pub/Public Theater); The Beggar’s Opera (Pace); and a staged reading presentation of Kate Maracle’s Pretty Ugly Things with Kyra Sedgwick and Brian Dennehy. Currently running: US premiere production of Inigo Ramirez de Haro’s Me Cago En Dios (Holy Crap) at La MaMa. She is Co-Artistic Director of The Fire Dept Theatre Co and was the inaugural recipient of the SDC LiveOnScreen Initiative for directing on-camera. She has taught Classical Acting, Voice and Movement, Directing, and stage combat at Yale, NYU, Fordham, Pace, O’Neill/NTI, Bard, others.

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Posted in Brenda Starr Reporter, Cartoons, Fashion, Theater, Women, Writing

One last good one: Bullets, Bums and Barack

Posted on November 6, 2008 | Leave a comment

Hope. Now I have it.  I’m so excited to see what Barack Obama is going to do with his presidency!  I feel proud for the first time that I am an American; that I had the chance to vote, to make a difference.
My interview project is nearly complete.   From September 17th – November 4th, I attempted to interview one person a day as an exercise to keep me writing.  The result is pretty amazing.  It’s a journal of New York City as we prepared to elect the first Black president.   On September 17th, the day after I arrived  in New York after spending two weeks in California, I was suddenly overwhelmed by the beauty of the city in the fall.  It was as if someone had put V-juice in my coffee.  Or, I was in love again with New York.  The trees, the air, the people…everything was cracking with change.

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Posted in Alaska, Art, Barack Obama, Broadway, California, Election 2008, Fashion, France, New York City, Politics, Sarah Palin, September 11th, Television, The Election, Theater, Travel, West Village, Women, Writing

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History in the Making: Barack Obama is our Next President!

Posted on November 5, 2008 | 1 Comment

Everyone is screaming at my house.

Obama party

Obama party

All of New York City is going nuts!  Obama just hit 270 electoral votes.
The latest political news from John McCain: They have turned off the news. It’s like the sinking of the Titanic; the Republican party has turned their focus to Hank Williams Jr.
So my house is hopping!  Fake Obama Girl showed up, champagne is flowing and I’m getting drunk.  The party just went outside and left me because “I’m being anti social with my blog.”
WILL.I.AM VIA HOLLOGRAM just appeared on CNN. I am not down with CNN’s hollogram technology.  It’s cheesy!
We just did a “cheers” to Barack; and then my husband Dmitry said a few poignant words about Obama’s grandma passing a day before this historic moment.
“Barack Obama’s grandma knew it wasn’t close race; she knew her grandson was the next President of the United States. Her work was done, she could go in peace.”

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Posted in Election 2008, Fashion, New York City, Politics, The Election, Writing

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Wonder Woman in a Cat Suit

Posted on November 4, 2008 | Leave a comment

Sadly, today at midnight I am going to end my “project” which has been to interview one person a day until the election.  Today when I went to vote I stood next to Patricia Keaton in line.  She is very nice and civic minded, but she really didn’t want to be interviewed for the blog.  Meanwhile, I am quite behind in my interviews and will be spending election night writing about the many cool people I met with instead of focusing on any poll numbers.  People are coming over to watch election results around seven.   My house is usually some sort of center of activity….

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Posted in Barack Obama, Election 2008, Fashion, Hillary Clinton, New York City, NYC Parties, photography, Theater, West Village, Women, Writing

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Don’t Be Trippin – Downtown cafe girl goes uptown!

Posted on October 1, 2008 | 2 Comments

What an excellent day!  I had two important appointments uptown and Audrey told me she got a new job!  She was so excited that she had to see me, so I decided to get “gussied” as much as possible and prepared for my meetings early, so that we could live “creative life” even if it was only for two hours.

This is a side note, but I really hate my new hairdo, it does make me look like Sarah Palin’s sister.

Me in my "library pose"

I look like a schoolmarm, librarian, preschool teacher or like I hunt for rabbits (no offense to schoolmarms, librarians, preschool teachers, rabbit hunters…well sure, offense to rabbit hunters).
Audrey and I meet up at Grounded and saddle up to a little table that we share.  Laptops are back-to-back.  I look down at my computer and realize that I haven’t prepared much for either of my meetings (been too busy writing my blog perhaps?).
One of my meetings is with a theater company. They have asked me to be prepared to discuss a marketing plan for “Of Mice and Men, the Musical.”  It was kind of a “what if?” type of question.  I’m pondering this. Audrey finds me a website with themes of Steinbeck novels.  So I am trying to imagine Curley’s wife singing a beautiful song about being lonely.  Hmmm.
I nearly tripped on the computer cord of the guy sitting next to me.
“Don’t be trippin,” He says with a laugh.  I can tell he thinks this he’s made a funny pun.
I smile and look back down at the “themes” page.
Audrey, my partner in crime, nudges me:  “Interview him,” she says with a raised brow.
“Ah,” good idea.
So I look on his lap top and try to see what he’s working on, see if it intrigues me.   It looks like it’s some kind of script for a commercial.
I have a feeling that Audrey and I are starting to get “known” in this café.
“Can I interview you? It will only take a minute,” I say.
“Sure, if it only takes a minute.”


Who:  Jason
Where: Grounded, NYC
Occupation: Movie trailer writer, advertising.
I actually felt like Jason was interviewing me, more than I was interviewing him.
“So what’s your blog about?” he says.
I can tell the whole coffee house is listening.
“Oh I interview one person a day, but I’m a playwright, so it’s not like an official thing.  I feel you and I have to sit across from you in order to interview you.”
“So what is it you do?  What are you working on?  It looks like a commercial, is it?” I say.
“I write teasers for movies and television shows.”
“Wow, that’s different.”
“I know so cool, right?” he says.
I can tell he doesn’t take himself too seriously, which is a good thing.
“How did you get this job?”
I’m not sure if this is exactly what we said, but I think he said something like
“I know how to work it.”
Hmm. Something any New Yorker knows is the name of the game – working it, that is.
“I feel lucky,” he says.
The three of us laugh about it.
“Look at us, we are in a cafe,” he said.
I think I can most appreciate the luxury of getting to hang out in a café.  After all, I only just left the corporate “florescent lights” a month ago.
Whew.  I pinch myself.  I am enjoying every moment of this borrowed time.
From behind me a guy who is listening to our conversation says, “are you a playwright? I am too.”

“I’ve got a show coming up.”  He hands me his card and we talk for awhile about playwriting and the Samuel French Festival.  He won in 2007.  His play “To Barcelona” sounds fascinating.  He added me as a friend on Facebook while we were sitting there talking, and as you can imagine, my interview with Jason went south.  Oh yeah, my interview!
Thankfully Audrey took over with the interview while I became distracted with Michael the playwright and figuring out how many friends we had in common.
Jason and Audrey both went to UC Berkeley, so they had a lot to chat about.  We told him that we really only recently graduated and were like 27.  I think he believed us.
We laugh.
I think the whole café is in on this.
“Okay café,” I ask to the crowd at large, “what Broadway stars would be good in Of Mice and Men, the Musical?”
“ I was thinking of Allan Cummings as Curley,” I say.
“He’s too old,” says Jason.
Suddenly I’m hearing answers from all over the coffee house.
Back to the interview, sort of.
“So is your blog political?” says Jason.  “You say you are interviewing one person a day until November 3rd?”
“Well, that’s when I figure I’ll be exhausted. But sure, getting people’s political views is part of it,” I say with a sigh.
“I just assume unless you tell me that you are from Alaska that most New Yorkers I’m meeting are liberal.”
“Well,” says Jason with a snort:  “I fucking love Barak Obama and I will flee the country if he doesn’t win.  I don’t care how many vaginas (Sarah Palin) has, why would any woman vote for her?”
His outburst cracks all of us up because it came out of nowhere.
My day could have ended there and I would have been happy, but I did have two meetings uptown, so since I am still in my “looking up” mode, I snapped a photo of building that would make a great painting – love the pipe snaking up the side.

Since my lipstick had worn off, I stopped into Bloomingdales and got lost trying to find the makeup counter.  I stopped to look at a chic jacket and of course it was my favorite designer: Nanette Lepore.

I don’t own anything by Nanette Lepore, but the next time I have money for a shopping spree, I must get something from her collection.  It’s true love!
At 7PM, I meet up with another playwright-friend Sonya at the Women’s Project for the opening of a new play.  Sonya is the greatest.   Great writer, mom of a three-year-old, very smart, funny and supportive of other writers.  Here’s a fun secret bonus about working in the theater in NYC: I get to know a cast of very interesting characters– and I get to see lots of quality theater for free!
The play was good; the set and lighting design inventive and the acting superb.  The characters were Russian and both actors really knocked out a solid Russian accent.  Natilia Payne is one of my favorite actors, so how could I not find the play charming? Yes, charming indeed.


The after party was fun too, though we didn’t stay long.  On the way home we came out right as the Broadway stars from the musical “Spring Awakening “ were outside singing autographs, so I snapped some more photos.


Hmmm. Maybe someday this will be me? Nah, no one takes photos of the playwrights.  It’s a good thing. I don’t like my hair.
________

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Posted in Alaska, Barak Obama, Broadway, Election 2008, Fashion, Hair, Humor, Literary, New York City, NYC Parties, Plays, Politics, Sarah Palin, The Election, Theater, Women, Writing

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More interviews from “Below 14th”

Posted on September 29, 2008 | 1 Comment

Sunday interviews.

It’s time to write about my two favorite neighborhood haunts: Joe’s coffee (141 Waverly Place) and Equinox gym on Greenwich Avenue. My morning started with a swim at the Equinox. It is the most amazing all-purpose, super swanky gym ever.  Where else can one work out in the weight room, take private Pilates, swim laps in the pool, take Jazz dance classes with someone who still uses “Jazz hands”, buy smoothies from the café and stop in the store to buy a cool pair of Stella McCarthy shorts?  Oh and did I mention the Spa? It’s nice too.

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Posted in Fashion, New York City, Theater, Uncategorized, Women, Writing

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Reading of REPORTER GIRL (a play about Brenda Starr Reporter) September 26th at 7:30PM.

Posted on September 26, 2008 | 1 Comment

If you like Mad Men, you’ll love my new play.  I’m just showing the first half (as a reading), but if you enjoy learning about history and feminist issues — and if you ever read Brenda Starr Reporter, you’ll love this play.
Watch a young female cartoonist as she fights her way into a male dominated culture in the 1940′s.  Years later her granddaughter struggles with some of the same issues and discovers what is true and fiction about her grandmother’s amazing story.

THE DRAMATIST GUILD Presents: FRIDAY NIGHT FOOTLIGHTS

NEW YORK, Friday, September 26, 2008
7:30pm – 9:00pm
REPORTER GIRL by Laura Rohrman
Laura Rohrman will present a staged reading of REPORTER GIRL,  a full-length play about her grandmother, Dale Messick, who created the famous cartoon strip BRENDA STARR REPORTER in 1940.  Dale Messick was the first syndicated female cartoonist in the world. The play has been a finalist for both the O’Neill festival and the Princess Grace award.
Friday Night Footlights New York is held in the Frederick Loewe Room, Suite 710, at 1501 Broadway (located between 43rd and 44th Streets), New York, NY  10036. you must have a photo I.D. to enter the building.

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Posted in Broadway, Cartoons, Fashion, Feminism, New York City, Television, Theater, Women, Writing

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Interview 2, 3 and 4… and one crazy day in NYC.

Posted on September 20, 2008 | Leave a comment

I met so many people this week….where to start?  Let’s just do my day on Thursday, Sept 19th.  This is not a typical day necessarily, but it’s not completely uncommon either.

11 AM I found myself lost in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn.  Two Russian people starring down at me (I fell coming out of the subway). They grunted. I looked up, shocked that I’d forgotten my Russian.   Noon.  A Russian guy stalks me on the subway and begs to kiss my hand.  I think he said “me and you together in Odessa” but I’m not sure…like I said, I forgot all my Russian, but somehow he kissed my hand. 12:30PM washing hands vigorously.

2-5PM met Audrey “to write” at Doma “a writer’s cafe.”  I overhear two guys laughing at themselves writing a screenplay no doubt. They were typical though….”We want to write something like The Office, but it’s been done.”  6PM, jump out of taxi in front of the W Hotel’s corporate office to meet my old friend Kevin, we get drinks and eat Oysters.  My Russian friend Olga shows up wearing a fedora and also orders her own Oysters.  She tells us that NYC’s Web 2.0 sucked.  Kevin’s wife Andrea shows up and we all go to at a party for the Luxury Collection in Chelsea.  I met a French fashion designer named Thomas Renaud.  I think his thing might have something to do with Aqua Man given his scuba attire.  Then, I scarfed down some Salmon Roe, which was delicious while standing outside and admiring  the evening view from the 21st floor.   Sometime before we left the party, I ran into an old actor friend from my MFA program (Steve) and decided to ask him to be in my reading of Reporter Girl which is next Friday, September 26th.  He was working the party and had a headset on.

Many glasses of wine later, Kevin, Andrea and I ended up a the W in Times Square for yet another party.  There I consumed more drinks and started talking with my old friend from work, Leah.  Seems like we got kind of silly and Kevin and Andrea left and Leah and I and a bunch of blond girls who now work on the Luxury accounts hung out in the W Store.  I happen to know that the W Store rocks with amazing little finds.  One of the girls had really blond hair and talked like a valley girl.  She said that she spent $300 on cabs last weekend and gets her hair blown out every day. Her teeth were very white.

Midnight.  I arrived at my door with a new black hat, ear muffs and a hot pink scarf.  Dmitry had cooked the Cod I bought, so I ate (again). We had more wine and watched TV.  I checked my email and found out that one of my plays has been chosen for a December production in NYC.

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Posted in Fashion, New York City, NYC Parties, Russia, Theater, Writing

Thanks to Hillary…SATC and Brenda Starr Reporter

Posted on June 14, 2008 | 1 Comment

Now that all the Hillary hating is over, people can start missing her. In some of those photos, Hillary is absolutely stunning. Her beauty is deep within in the lines of her face.

The political landscape is far less interesting these days without her in the race.

I spoke to the Marketing Director of The Chicago Tribune today and she said: “Never in my life did I think I’d see the day when a black man and a white woman would be running for president. Together they’d be unstoppable.”

Probably.

Why was I talking to the Marketing Director of the Chicago Tribune? Well, because we were chatting about my granny and Brenda Starr — and how my granny, Dale Messick was one of the early pioneers for women, paving the way for not only other cartoonists, but for journalists. Dale Messick via her character Brenda Starr Reporter inspired millions with the “I’m a woman and I can do it” attitude.

SATC – perhaps it just proves that movies don’t have to be all about men or violence to be popular.

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Posted in Cartoons, Fashion, Feminism, Hillary Clinton, Politics, Television, Women

Always look your best: a note from a slob

Posted on May 19, 2008 | Leave a comment

It’s Sunday. It’s raining out and although I am thrilled to death that I have no plans, at some point I must venture out. Will I work out? Get my nails done? Go to lunch with my husband? Go to a playwriting group? Check yes to all of the above! So even though I have some cute outfits, I never wear my Sunday best. I wear whatever is nearby — and I always look like crap. My hair is in a bun and I usually wear my pink Converse and something scary. To be perfectly honest, I wear clothes that should be thrown away – and it seems to give me pleasure to looks so awful. Maybe I am rebelling from having to dress up to go to an office day in and day out. Maybe this desire to be a pig stems from growing up in the mountains, or the fact that I once lived in the outback for thirty days and wore the same four outfits and never took a shower.

But now I’m much different — during the week if you catch me I usually look pretty nice — and lately I’ve even been keeping up on my hair, it’s “coiffed.”

My grandma had a mantra — and it was always look your best — you never know who you might see. My granny always looked like a million bucks, and my mom always looks good and they’ve always been harping on me about my appearance. Well, I learned something recently –

One Sunday, I was uncharacteristically trying to look a little dapper. I was trying to look cute, which I should just give up on that plan: it’s Sunday, it won’t happen. We had lunch plans with another couple, so I tried a little bit harder than usual. No, of course I didn’t shower — but I swept up my hair into a bun and then put on a Fedora, green army jacket, pink sweater draped over super tight jeans and high brown boots. This little number was almost chic for a Sunday in the West Village, but it was borderline. I sort of looked like I belonged in a J-Lo video or perhaps I was auditioning for the next Indiana Jones movie. So the next day, Monday, I had a big meeting at work — my corporate job — and I decided to wear the same outfit. Of course, I didn’t notice how tight the pants were until I had to back away from people and avoid bending over lest I wanted them to see my butt crack. What possessed me to wear my Indiana Jones outfit to work? I’ll never know….but that outfit still remains one of my worst Sunday fashion choices that should have never, never, never been one of my Monday choices.

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Posted in Fashion, Humor, Uncategorized